§ Mr. DalyellTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the registration of skin cancers other than melanomas; and what improvements she proposes.
§ Mr. SackvilleI am advised that there is under-registration of skin cancers other than melanomas. Registration varies widely depending on the registry's access to out-patient records and general practitioners. The steering committee on cancer registration has recommended that the implications of improving registration of these cancers should be examined in a cost-benefit analysis. This is under consideration.
§ Mr. DalyellTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what research her Department is doing into malignant skin cancer.
§ Mr. SackvilleResearch is being undertaken by or commissioned by this Department, the Medical Research Council, which receives its grant-in-aid from the office of my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and the National Radiological Protection Board. Current and recent research has looked at the knowledge, attitudes and behaviour of the public in relation to the risks of over-exposure to sun, underlying mechanisms of ultraviolet-induced skin damage and the benefits of screening for skin cancer.