§ Mr. Dafydd Wigley (Caernarfon)With your permission, Mr. Speaker, I beg to ask leave to present to the House a petition concerning breast cancer. The petition has been organised by the National Association of Ladies' Circles of Great Britain and Ireland. It is appropriate that it is being presented today, because the association will celebrate its 50th anniversary tomorrow. It has been signed by 12,855 women in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and it includes names from every one of the association's 55 areas. I pay tribute to the work of the association's secretary, Mrs. Daphne Fowler, who organised the petition.
The petition concerns an extremely serious matter, as 20,000 women a year are diagnosed as suffering from breast cancer. The condition leads to the death of about 12,000 women a year. A similar petition was presented 12 years ago, and since then over 140,000 women are estimated to have died from the condition. If earlier diagnosis were possible, many of these tragic deaths could be avoided. The petitioners believe—I agree with them whole-heartedly—that there is a desperate need to remedy the deficiencies in the system of dealing with this problem.
The petition reads:
Wherefore your petitioners pray that your honourable House urge the government to promote further research into the early diagnosis of breast cancer and stress the need for a screening programme to be more readily available.And your petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray.To lie upon the Table.