§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what resources he intends to make available for the purpose of advancing screening facilities for breast and cervical cancer and spina bifida babies.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeIt is for health authorities to establish priorities for the development of these services within the resources we make available to them for their services as a whole.
Up-dated guidance has recently been issued to them on the priority to be given to particular groups of women within the screening programme for cervical cancer. We are funding a major programme of research to determine the value of breast cancer screening and will consider its future development in the light of the results of the trials which should begin to become available in 1988.
The report of a working group set up under the chairmanship of Sir Douglas Black to advise on screening for neural tube defects including spina bifida was sent to health authorities in 1979. Our Department endorsed the group's general conclusions that rapid progress towards a national screening service might be unwise in view of some remaining uncertainties about the benefits and risks and the costs entailed. We have subsequently funded further research in this field.
§ Mr. Dobsonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services, pursuant to the reply by his right hon. and learned Friend the Minister for Health of 16 January, 349W Official Report, column 170, what were the sources of the series of figures for women of all ages screened for cancer; how the figure for 1982 was calculated; and whether the figure for 1983 was an estimate.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeThe figures for women of all ages given in the table to which the hon. Member refers were summarised from returns SBH 140 which are received annually from health authorities. Figures for all the years shown are actual numbers, rounded to the nearest thousand.