§ Mr. Brightasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what the trials of breast cancer screening techniques conducted at eight United Kingdom centres since 1979 have established about the total cost of screening and the additional cost of clinical examinations.
§ Mrs. CurrieProfessor Sir Patrick Forrest's report on breast cancer screening has recently been received and we are arranging for it to be published. The report includes an estimate of the cost of introducing breast cancer screening. However it would be inappropriate for me to quote extracts from the report in advance of its publication.
§ Mr. Brightasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what is the planned expenditure on the breast cancer screening programme in England and Wales for the current financial year; and what are the figures envisaged for the three succeeding financial years;
(2) if he will provides estimates of the cost of establishing a high-quality nationwide breast cancer screening programme (a) for all women over 40 years of age and (b) for all women over the age of 50 years.
§ Mr. Tom Coxasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the total funding from his Department to London hospitals for breast cancer screening services.
§ Mrs. CurrieThe sum of £556,000 is available this year from central expenditure to fund a series of trials on breast cancer screening. Decisions on whether to introduce a national screening programme will be made in the light of the report prepared by the working group chaired by Professor Sir Patrick Forrest which has recently been received by Ministers.
We are arranging for the report to be published. It includes an estimate of the cost of introducing breast cancer screening and its consequences. However it would be inappropriate for me to quote extracts from the report in advance of its publication.