§ Mr. McKelveyasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement outlining the arrangments made by each health board for the provision of cervical smear tests.
§ Mr. John MacKayA report by a working party on cervical cytology services in Scotland, which the Scottish Home and Health Department drew to the attention of health boards in December 1978, gave expert guidance on the operation of such services. This guidance is still valid; but in view of recent public concern the Department asked health boards on 29 March for detailed information on the service being provided in their respective areas. I shall be reviewing the position when this information has been assessed, and if any further action is called for as a result I shall give urgent consideration to this.
§ Mr. McKelveyasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish in the Official Report statistics in each health board area for (a) the number of women who have died from cervical cancer in each of the last five years and (b) the number of those who died who had previously undergone smear tests.
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§ Mr. John MacKayThe statistics are given in the accompanying table. Information is not available on the number of women who died who had previously undergone smear tests.
Health Board Area Deaths from Cervical Cancer† 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984* Borders 1 2 — 3 4 Forth Valley 13 8 6 8 14 Dumfries and Galloway 10 2 6 8 6 Fife 17 15 19 23 22 Grampian 16 19 12 14 21 Highland 5 8 6 10 10 Lothian 17 37 29 30 31 Argyll and Clyde 17 15 19 19 19 Ayrshire and Arran 15 13 25 10 20 Greater Glasgow 44 45 43 43 49 Lanarkshire 14 17 25 33 16 Tayside 15 16 13 10 13 Orkney 2 3 1 2 — Shetland — 1 2 — — Western Isles 1 — 2 — 2 Totals 187 201 208 213 227 * Provisional—not yet published. † ICD 180 malignant neoplasm of cervix uteri.