Harley: Cancer figures show need for lung cancer screening programme 

Scottish Liberal Democrat health spokesperson Adam Harley MSP has urged the SNP government to listen to his party’s calls to roll out a lung cancer screening programme as new figures revealed that this kind of cancer remains the most fatal in Scotland.

New Public Health Scotland figures reveal that: 

• Lung cancer remains the most common cause of cancer deaths overall, accounting for a fifth of all cancer deaths in Scotland in 2024.

• While the risk of dying from cancer has decreased, the number of deaths due to cancer has increased by 2.1% since 2015.

• Between 2015 and 2024, there has been a widening inequality in cancer mortality between the most and least deprived groups, with the reduction in cancer deaths decreasing by 5.6% in the most deprived, compared to a reduction of 14.5% in the least deprived. 


In 2022, the UK National Screening Committee recommended that the whole of the UK introduce a lung cancer screening programme to help prevent the disease or catch it early. 

It is already being implemented in England, and Wales has now announced that it will also do a full rollout. Four years on, however, Scotland has not moved on beyond the pilot programme. 

The SNP Government have said that it would take 7 to 10 years for them to implement the scheme fully. 

Scottish Liberal Democrats have launched a petition which calls on the Scottish Government to commit to a full, nationwide rollout of the screening programme. You can sign the petition HERE.

Adam Harley MSP said: 

“These figures illustrate the worrying prevalence of cancer deaths across Scotland.

“Survival rates for lung cancer aren’t much better than what they were in the 1970s, and access to diagnosis and treatment can still be a postcode lottery. 

“A national lung cancer screening programme, which is already underway in England, could make a big difference, and that’s why my party have been calling for it to be rolled out across Scotland. 

“Cancer patients shouldn’t be waiting years for interventions like this. The government should be doing everything they can now to deliver on prevention and early diagnosis because that is how we can save lives.”