§ Sandra GidleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of total funds available to the cancer screening programme are available to the cervical cancer screening programme; and what that proportion is in cash terms. [302]
§ Yvette Cooper[holding answer 26 June 2001]In 1998, the National Audit Office (NAO) estimated that the National Health Service cervical screening programme in England costs around £132 million per year, around £34 per woman screened1.
It is estimated by the Department of Health that the NHS breast cancer screening programme costs £52 million per year.
There are currently no other national NHS programmes for cancer screening. The NHS plan stated that we will introduce new screening programmes for other cancers, as evidence about their effectiveness and benefit is confirmed.
1 Source:
NAO "The performance of the NHS cervical screening programme in England"; report by the Comptroller and Auditor General; HC678 session 1997–98; 22 April 1998