§ Mr. Kevin HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will fund the development of the Quest cancer test as an alternative to the current method of cervical cancer screening.
§ Mr. SackvilleThe Government are committed to reducing mortality from cervical cancer; that is why we introduced a national cervical screening programme. We are always willing to consider new proposals which might lead to improvements in health care and health promotion.
65WThe Quest test for cancer has been considered in detail and an earlier application to fund a trial, assessed at the same time as 12 other proposals in the field of screening, was turned down in 1988. It is for the medical profession to decide whether to use the Quest test on the basis of published research findings.