ONCE, it was the disease that no one wanted to talk about. For many people, it was too awful to contemplate, invariably a death sentence and one prefaced by no small degree of suffering.

Thanks to medical science, this is no longer the case. Society has no problem mentioning the C' word and with good reason - for most cancers are treatable illnesses with very high success rates of cure. There are thousands of individuals now walking the streets who, only a few years ago, would no longer be with us.

Nevertheless, most people would admit to being greatly traumatised on discovering they were suffering from the disease. Some cancers, most notably head and neck tumours, tend to be disfiguring kinds and so obviously cause much distress to the victims. No amount of reassurance from well-wishers will necessarily calm the patient - and that is why the news that patients are to receive psychological support should be given a warm welcome.

For although the physical toll of cancer may be all too apparent, the mental anguish is much more difficult to quantify. This proposal will deal with various factors from educating medical and nursing staff about the psychological needs of cancer patients to providing appropriate levels of treatment.

The time is fast approaching when Mankind will discover a cure for cancer. It is only a question of time before that breakthrough is made, and when it happens, it will be a medical milestone as significant as the breakthroughs by Curie and Pasteur. But in the meantime, every effort must be made to reassure the patient - and this latest move is a very positive development indeed.