The rate of cancer-related deaths continues to be significantly higher in poorer parts of the country compared to more affluent areas, the Irish Cancer Society (ICS) has warned.

According to the society's new chairman, Prof John Kennedy, cancer deaths in some disadvantaged areas are double those seen in wealthier areas. A large proportion of these cases are due to smoking. He said that this issue needs to be tackled as a matter of urgency.

Prof Kennedy made his comments at the launch of the ICS's new five-year strategy, Towards a Future Without Cancer. The strategy sets out four goals the society will be aiming to achieve in the coming years, including highlighting how people can avoid developing cancer in the first place.

"A lot more is now known about how a person can avoid cancer, but we need to get this information across better. As a nation we are smoking and drinking too much, are overweight and not taking enough exercise. Changing our habits can cut our cancer rate over time and we will be showing how," Prof Kennedy explained.

He said that the society was determined to work with more marginalised communities in an attempt to help tackle this issue. He noted that while major strides have been made in the field of cancer, Ireland ‘has become a very unequal society when it comes to health problems', particularly in relation to cancer and access to adequate healthcare.

"There is a worrying divide emerging and this is a challenge that faces all of us - the policy makers, healthcare providers and the Irish Cancer Society. We must work now to begin to close this gap," he added.