Mr Patsy McGlone (Mid Ulster): To ask the Minister of Health to detail (i) on what date he was made aware of a suspected cluster of childhood cancer cases occurring in the Mid Ulster area between July 2023 and April 2025; and (ii) any investigations his Department, including the Chief Medical Officer, has undertaken, or requested, into a possible environmental link to these cases. [Priority Written]
Minister of Health: Officials in my Department were first made aware of concerns about a suspected cluster of childhood cancer cases in the Mid Ulster area in July 2025, when a member of the public contacted the Chief Medical Officer (CMO).
The CMO subsequently contacted the Public Health Agency (PHA) in July 2025 to request that that the PHA fully considered the observations and requested that relevant information and analysis be undertaken with the Northern Ireland Cancer Registry (NICR) to ascertain whether there were any unusual incidences of childhood cancers or rare cancers at variance to prevalence or incidents in other parts of NI.
The PHA have worked with the NICR to fully explore the concerns raised about a potential increase in childhood cancers in the Mid-Ulster area. Initial investigations undertaken by the PHA and NICR showed that childhood cancers in and within the Mid Ulster area were consistent with the rates across Northern Ireland. The report for this investigation covered the time period 2018-2022 (validated data).
The PHA subsequently instructed the NICR to undertake an informal sensitivity analysis using provisional data for 2023. This covered the period 2018-2023 and found that the incidence of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) in children 0-14 years in the Mid Ulster Parliamentary Constituency (PC) area was not significantly higher than the Northern Ireland average.
In February 2026 officials updated me on the ongoing concerns that had been raised by the member of the public and the investigations undertaken by the PHA and NICR in relation to these matters and the outcome of the investigations.
I am aware that the NICR continuously scrutinises cancer data and I have not been made aware if any environmental links to childhood cancer cases in the Mid-Ulster Area. The PHA are working with NICR and remain committed to keeping the data under review and as validated data becomes available further analysis will be carried out as required. The PHA and NICR have offered to meet any family who has concerns regarding this issue and that offer remains open.
My Department takes all reports of cancer clusters extremely seriously. That is why, in Northern Ireland, the PHA works very closely in conjunction with the NICR to identify and fully investigate any such potential cancer clusters.
ENDS
Your MLA 