Cole-Hamilton calls for national lung cancer screening as Scotland falls behind
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton has today urged the Scottish Government to urgently move forward with plans for a national lung cancer screening programme immediately.
In 2022, the UK National Screening Committee recommended that the whole of the UK introduce lung cancer screening to help prevent the disease or catch it early. However, three years on, Scotland has not moved beyond a pilot programme, with public health minister Jenni Minto now conceding to Mr Cole-Hamilton that it would take 7-10 years for a full programme to be implemented.
The Welsh Government currently estimate that the first people are expected to be invited to take part in screening in 2027, and a programme is beginning to be rolled out across England.
Figures from Public Health Scotland released earlier this month revealed:
• The number of deaths due to cancer has increased by 3.2% (to 16,265 from 15,764 in 2013)
• 1 in 4 cancer deaths (24%) are due to lung cancer. The rate of lung cancer was more than three times higher in the most deprived areas compared with the least deprived.
Scottish Liberal Democrats have launched a petition which calls for the SNP government to immediately commit to roll out a full, nationwide screening programme for lung cancer, which experts say could hundreds of lives every year.
The petition can be found HERE.
Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP said:
“In Scotland, more people die of lung cancer than any other form of disease. Survival rates aren’t much better than what they were in the 1970s.
“This SNP government should be moving heaven and earth to prevent people getting lung cancer and catching it early when they do. There isn’t a moment to lose when it comes to getting cancer patients life-saving interventions.
“My party wants to see the government ending their dithering and making a full rollout of this screening programme a top priority. If other parts of the UK can do it, why can’t we?
“I hope that the public will back our campaign and help us to fix cancer prevention, diagnosis and care. Together we can turn up the heat on the Scottish Government and deliver for cancer patients across Scotland.”