§ Mr. D. E. Thomasasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) if he will initiate a uniform national screen programme for the prevention of breast cancer for women over 50 years of age using oblique mammography in England; and if he will make a statement;
(2) whether he has received the final report of the Forrest committee on breast cancer.
§ Mr. Harry Cohenasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he has yet received the final report of the Forrest committee on breast cancer.
§ Mrs. CurrieA report by Professor Sir Patrick Forrest's United Kingdom working group on breast cancer screening has been received and sent for printing. The Government are urgently considering their response and an announcement will be made as soon as possible.
§ Mr. D. E. Thomasasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will make a statement on his Department's initiatives in promoting the early detection and prevention of (a) breast cancer and (b) cervical cancer and its future plans.
§ Mrs. CurrieConcerning breast cancer screening, I refer the hon. Member to my reply to him and the hon. Member for Leyton (Mr. Cohen) today.
The Government have already taken a number of urgent steps to reduce deaths from cervical cancer by improving the effectiveness of health authorities' screening programmes. All health authorities have been required to give priority to making improvements, including implementing computerised call and recall systems and ensuring that laboratories avoid backlogs of cervical smears. Our detailed guidance to health authorities is currently under review, and a fuller announcement will be made as soon as possible.
§ Mr. D. E. Thomasasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many specialist staff are employed by each of the district health authorities in England in the detection of (a) breast and (b) cervical cancer.
§ Mrs. CurrieI shall let the hon. Member have a reply as soon as possible.
§ Mr. D. E. Thomasasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many women died of (a) breast cancer and (b) cervical cancer in England in 1986; and what are the figures for each year since 1979.
§ Mrs. CurrieThe available information is shown in the table. Figures for the whole of 1986 are expected by the middle of 1987.
98W
Number of deaths registered1 with underlying cause ay (a) malignant neoplasm of female breast and (b) malignant neoplasm of cervix uteri Usual residents of England 1979 to June 1986 Year Malignant neoplasm of female breast ICD(9)2 174 Malignant neoplasm of cervix uteri ICD(9)2 180 1979 11,367 1,944 1980 11,417 1,939 1981 11,741 1,877 1982 11,628 1,804 1983 11,879 1,815 1984 12,471 1,779 1985 12,710 1,814 19863 6,506 909 1 Registered in England and Wales. 2 International Classification of Diseases 9th revision. 3 January to June.