HC Deb 30 November 1971 vol 827 cc228-30
10. Mrs. Knight

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many women were in the greatest cancer-risk age group in the year 1970–71; and what proportion of these have had cytology tests in this time under the National Health Service.

Mr. Alison

I assume that my hon. Friend has in mind cancer of the cervix. The likelihood of developing this form of cancer increases sharply with age and women age 35 years and over are known to be most at risk. There are about 13 million women in this age group. Approximately 1,850,000 tests were made in 1970, of which about half were on women aged 35 and over.

Mrs. Knight

Does not my hon. Friend agree that that is hardly a satisfactory answer? Is he aware that 6,000 women contract cervical cancer every year, that 3,000 of these die from it, and that almost all of them could be saved if some funds were allocated for yearly or even biannual tests? Will my hon. Friend assure me that he does not share the total indifference of his chief medical officer on this subject, who does not even deign to mention the subject of cytology in any part of his 1970 annual report?

Mr. Alison

I must immediately come to the defence of the chief medical officer. He has recently published two articles on cervical cytology in Health Trends, which is circulated free of charge to every general practitioner, and he has urged an increase in the number of women they bring forward for screening.

Mrs. Renée Short

Is it correct that so much money has been spent on abortions that there is little left for cytology?

Mr. Alison

As the hon. Lady knows from her wide experience of medicine, the problem in cytology is the difficulty of persuading women that they need to come forward for screening.

Mrs. Short

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. That reply was in no way an answer to my supplementary question. May I ask the hon. Gentleman whether he will now reply to it?

Mr. Speaker

That is not a point of order, I am afraid.

Mrs. Short

Too many times at Question Time Ministers get away with this sort of thing.

Mr. Speaker

Order. The content of an answer is not a matter for the Chair.

Mrs. Short

It is a matter for the House. It is a disgrace.

Dr. Summerskill

Will the hon. Gentleman bear in mind that Health Trends is no substitute for the chief medical officer's report and that we trust that this will not be repeated in future years? Secondly, will he authorise far greater publicity to encourage more women to use this excellent service, which is saving thousands of lives a year? Will he also not remain content with testing those at greatest risk? What about those at lesser risk? After all, the life of a lesser risk patient is just as valuable as the life of someone at greater risk.

Mr. Alison

The hon. Lady will have noted that half of the tests carried out in 1970 were on women under the age of 35 Publicity is a matter for the Health Education Council, which has plenty of funds and is very active. It is simply a problem of communication in making women who may not have immediate symptoms of which they are aware come forward for screening.