§ 12. Mr. Howard Flight (Arundel and South Downs)What steps he is taking to promote awareness of prostate cancer; and if he will make a statement. [98937]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Yvette Cooper)More than 8,000 men die each year from prostate cancer, and as yet there is no known way by which men can reduce the risk of prostate cancer. We are concerned to promote awareness of prostate cancer and its symptoms. The Department of Health and the Health Education Authority currently produce literature on cancer in men, including prostate cancer, to raise men's awareness of the risks.
§ Mr. FlightAs the Minister acknowledges, prostate cancer has become one of the major killers of men. Some 18 months ago, I participated in an Adjournment debate, secured by my hon. Friend the Member for Mid-Dorset and North Poole (Mr. Fraser), in which the Government undertook to consider increasing the resources spent on research. As the Minister knows, at present a paltry sum of less than £100,000 is spent on research. How much is spent on promoting awareness? Men are supposed to be shy about such problems, which is part of the reason why the disease is not discovered in sufficient time.
In summary, prostate cancer is a major killer, but nothing much is being spent on research, there is very little promotion of awareness, and little testing is carried 470 out, because it is deemed to be unreliable and too expensive. The subject seems to be neglected, but it is an urgent one.
§ Yvette CooperI can give the hon. Gentleman further information about research into prostate cancer. I, too, am extremely concerned that proper research into the disease should be undertaken and that something should be done to reduce the risks and the distressing symptoms of prostrate cancer.
The Government have made significant additional investment in prostate cancer research over the past two years. Since 1997, the Government have directly committed more than £800,000 to new prostate cancer research projects. In addition, the Department is providing support for prostate cancer research commissioned by charities and by the Medical Research Council—research which takes place in the NHS.
Furthermore, the Department has been reviewing priorities in cancer research within the NHS, and we have set up a cancer research funders forum involving the MRC, the Department of Health and major cancer charities, which will meet in January. We have asked the forum to consider prostate cancer research as a matter of urgency.
§ Dr. Doug Naysmith (Bristol, North-West)My hon. Friend will be aware that there exist screening tests for prostate cancer, although they are not routinely used in the NHS. I know that they are pretty unreliable, but can my hon. Friend give me an assurance that some of the research money to which she referred and the effort to be expended will be devoted to improving screening tests for prostate cancer?
§ Yvette CooperI can tell my hon. Friend that the Department's standing group on health technology has identified cancer of the prostate as one of the priority areas for health technology assessment. I can also tell him that the national screening committee is keeping the matter under continual review. In the new year the committee will re-examine the issues, including the latest evidence on the tests and the treatment available. In the past, the committee concluded that there was no evidence that the introduction of widespread population screening would reduce the number of deaths from prostate cancer. However, the matter will be reviewed over the next few months.
§ Dr. Liam Fox (Woodspring)In order not to cause the Minister too much anxiety at the Dispatch Box, I shall ask her a simple question, to which she can answer yes or no. If studies currently being carried out in the United States and Europe show that PSA—prostatic specific antigen—screening and the follow-up treatment to which she refers significantly reduce death rates from prostate cancer, will the Government follow the campaigns by the Daily Mail and The Sun and introduce the Conservative policy, outlined by the Leader of the Opposition, of screening all men aged 50 to 70 every three years?
§ Yvette CooperI have seen a copy of the Conservative party press statement on the matter. Tucked away well down the press statement are the words
subject to it being proved that such campaigns are effective".471 I hope that the hon. Gentleman will therefore support our decision to refer the matter to the national screening committee, and to respond to the evidence that the committee considers.It astonishes me that the hon. Gentleman thinks that his party could fund any form of screening programme, whether for breast cancer, cervical cancer or anything else. Given the black hole in the Tory finances, perhaps he plans to introduce a new form of screening programme—based on people's ability to pay for cancer treatment.
§ Mr. Denis MacShane (Rotherham)Will the Minister join me in congratulating the newspapers that have campaigned on this, including The Times, in which Dr. Thomas Stuttaford, a former Member of the House, 472 movingly recorded his experiences, the Daily Mail and The Sun, because such information—much of it is also available on the net—can help? Opposition Members' flippant attempts to create a scare about this sensitive and difficult subject are unworthy. Will the Minister also encourage all her male colleagues to get a grip on themselves and carry out the necessary examinations to assure the House that in their lower parts—the waste disposal and other relevant organs—they are not suffering from the ridiculous cancer that seems to trouble so many Opposition Members?
§ Yvette CooperI am not sure that it is possible to add anything to that advice.
§ Madam SpeakerOn that note, we move on.