HC Deb 26 February 1980 vol 979 cc540-1W
Mrs. Renée Short

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many women have died of breast cancer for each of the last 10 years.

Sir George Young

The numbers of deaths of women from breast cancer (ICD 174) in England and Wales have been as follows:

Year Deaths of Women
1969 10,622
1970 10,677
1971 11,182
1972 11,149
1973 11,428
1974 11,239
1975 11,637
1976 11,763
1977 11,820
1978 11,915

Mrs. Renée Short

asked the Secretary of Stale for Social Services what training is currently given to nurses to enable them to detect breast cancer; if he is satisfied with the adequacy of this training; and what plans he has to make it more widely available.

Sir George Young

Nurses working in family planning clinics receive special training in detecting the symptoms of breast cancer. The training of health visitors and nurses working in the community in health education and the prevention of disease includes surveillance of high risk groups, including women, in the groups most liable to develop breast cancer.

Training programmes are updated as the effectiveness of new diagnostic methods is proved.