§ Dame Jill KnightTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what action the Government are taking to reduce deaths from cervical cancer.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyThe cervical screening programme forms an important part of our strategy to promote women's health. The improvements that have been introduced over recent years—we were the first country in the EC to introduce nationwide computerised call and recall systems—should further increase the effectiveness of the programme. Five-yearly cervical screening can reduce deaths among women screened by approximately 80 per cent. By March 1993, we expect all women aged 20 to 64 years to have been brought into the scope of the programme and to have received their first invitation for a cervical smear.