One of our top oncologists says we will struggle to retain or attract top doctors and nurses without centres of excellence for cancer.

A new cancer strategy has been unveiled, in a bid to reduce cancer rates in the next ten years.

Bowel and breast screening will be extended, and the push to make Ireland tobacco-free by 2025 continues.

Meanwhile the head of the HSE says the now-scrapped plans to change funding for breast-cancer were not his decision.

Juliette Gash reports;

Leading oncologist John Kennedy says we will need centres of excellence for cancer if we're to attract doctors back pic.twitter.com/BRsNokF5cQ

— Juliette Gash (@JulietteGash) July 5, 2017

There's been a broad welcome to the new 10 year cancer strategy.

The strategy will see bowel and breast screening extended to more people, and is predicted to cost up to 2 billion euro.

Patient advocates say they’re delighted that psycho-social and survivorship programmes are a fundamental part of the strategy.

Mairead Mangan survived cancer despite being given a 15 percent chance of doing so.

She’s thrilled the plan is focused on the patient as a whole;