Capacity building has also been strengthened within the nursing workforce. Although the number of practising nurses (8.0 per 1000 population) is still slightly below the EU average, numbers have increased by a third since 2009. Looking at trends over time reveals impressive falls in amenable mortality over the past 15 years. This reflects the overall progress in providing better availability of, and access to, an increasing range of different services, medicines and medical technologies Examples of success include the remarkable improvements in survival for some treatable cancers, such as breast and testicular cancer.