NEW FIGURES HAVE revealed cancer death rates for women in Ireland aged over 65 are notably higher than the EU average.

Information published by Eurostat yesterday showed circulatory diseases were the most prevalent cause of deaths of over 65s in 2010 in the EU28 countries.

Death rates due to cancer for women were highest in Demark, Ireland and Slovenia. There were 2,466 deaths per 100,000 people aged over 65 in Ireland in 2010 with lung cancer being most prevalent in men.

In the EU28, the death rate for older men due to cancer in 2010 was almost twice as high as for women.

Ireland also had the second highest death rates for women in this age bracket due to melanoma of the skin.

Deaths due to accidents in Ireland were lower than the EU average for both men and women and suicide rates among those aged over 65 were also well below the average.

Read: Mortalities due to cancer, heart disease significantly down in last decade>

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