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Government goes alone in cancer study due to lack of Spanish support
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Reacting to press reports, the Government says that "as is well known", it has been trying, since 2004, to undertake jointly with Spanish authorities in the Campo a comprehensive epidemiological study of cancer prevalence and cancer risk in Gibraltar and the surrounding region.
"Since it has not so far been possible to proceed jointly, the Government of Gibraltar is currently undertaking the study alone, which would necessarily restrict the study to Gibraltar, but would take full account of the publicly available information for the whole region, as well as any data that the Spanish Authority may agree to provide to our consultant," they say.
The purpose of the Epidemiological study is to establish whether or not, in Gibraltar, there is an incidence of cancer greater than normal, and, if so, what the causes might be.
In order to ensure the creditability of the study, the Government says it opted for a reputable institution with an international track record in environmental cancer epidemiology, and therefore appointed the National Environmental Research Institute (NERI), of Aarhus University, Denmark to undertake the epidemiological study. They have been engaged on the study since May 2009. It is made known that the consultant is currently processing all of the available environmental and medical data sent to them but further requests for information continue to be received. The study is nevertheless scheduled for completion during the last quarter of this year, with the exact date depending on whether further requests for data are received and how readily available such data is. The emphasis is in ensuring that they produce a robust, accurate and reliable study.
07-05-10
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