§ Mr. Pawseyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what has been the change in the death rate from cervical cancer since 1965; and what was the equivalent change between 1960 and 1965.
§ Mrs. CurrieThe table shows the age-specific mortality rates per million population for malignant neoplasm of cervix uteri for England and Wales for 1960, 1965 and 1985, and the average annual percentage change in these rates between 1960 and 1965, and between 1965 and 1985.
Age-specific mortality rates per million population for Malignant Neoplasm of Cervix Uteri (ICD1(7) 171, (9) 180), 1960, 1965, 1985; average annual percentage change 1960–65, 1965–85, England and Wales Age-group Year 1960 Rate2 1965 Rate2 1985 Rate2 1960–65 Average annual percentage change 1965–85 Average annual percentage change 15–24 0.3 0.9 1.3 27.3 1.9 25–34 21 11 32 - 7.9 9.1 35–44 109 105 68 - 0.6 -1.7 45–54 183 192 93 0.8 -2.5 55–64 192 198 158 0.5 -1.0 65–74 279 217 195 - 3.7 -0.5 75–84 356 272 197 - 3.9 -1.3 85 and over 370 344 206 - 1.2 - 1.9 1 International Classification of Diseases 7th, 9th revisions. 2 per million population.
§ Mr. Pawseyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will publish a table showing the number of deaths from cervical cancer for each year since 1973 to the present time.
§ Mrs. CurrieThe information is shown in the table.
652W
Number of deaths with underlying cause as Malignant Neoplasm of Cervix Uteri (ICD1(8, 9) 180) 1973–1985 England and Wales Year Number of deaths 1973 2,249 1974 2,068 1975 2,143 1976 2,206 1977 2,145 1978 2,153 1979 2,087 1980 2,068 1981 2,017 1982 1,932 1983 1,959 1984 1,899 1985 1,957 1 International Classification of Diseases 8th, 9th revisions.
§ Mr. Pawseyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what has been the change in the rate of positive smears for cervical cancer since 1973.
§ Mrs. CurrieThe information requested is given in the table.
Cervical Cytology England and Wales Year Positive smears per thousand examined Index (1973 = 100) 1973 4.3 100 1974 4.7 109 1975 4.8 112 1976 5.2 121 1977 5.9 137 1978 6.3 147 1979 6.3 147 1980 6.8 158 1981 7.1 165 1982 7.6 177 1983 7.8 181 1984 8.9 207 1985 9.2 214
§ Mr. Pawseyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the cost of the present cervical cancer smear test campaign; and what assessment he has made of the cost of providing for screening at three-yearly intervals.
§ Mrs. CurrieExpenditure on cervical cancer screening is not separately identified in health authority accounts. It is estimated that the current cost is in the range of £20 million to £30 million. A change to three-yearly screening for all women aged 20–64 years might increase expenditure by some £10 million to £15 million.
§ Mr. Pawseyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what is the anticipated annual change in cervical cancer cases between the current time and 1996;
(2) what is the estimated number of deaths from cervical cancer for each year between the current time and 1996.
§ Mrs. CurrieI regret that the information requested is not available. We are pursuing vigorously policies to reduce the rate of incidence and of deaths from cervical cancer.