GET SCREENED FOR A HEALTHIER 2008
January 8, 2008 12:00 AM
As the NHS expands its screening programmes for two forms of cancer, a local Lib Dem MEP is calling for all individuals offered screening to take it up as a way to ensuring a healthier 2008.
Breast cancer and bowel cancer claim some 28,000 British lives each year, and have a higher incidence rate in the UK than most other EU countries. Regular routine screening is already offered by postal invitation to certain target groups for cancers such as breast and bowel cancer, but many people still do not make use of the testing that is on offer and miss out on vital early treatment.
Liz Lynne MEP is Co-Chair of the MEPs against Cancer group and the Intergroup on Ageing in the European Parliament and has long campaigned on public health issues. She said:
"I hope the extension of the screening programmes will tackle the relatively high number of cases of these cancers in the UK as compared to other European countries.
"Screening for bowel cancer can reduce the chance of dying by 16% and the breast cancer screening programme saves 1400 lives a year but this is not enough. Insufficient screening is causing unnecessary deaths and we all have a responsibility to ourselves and our loved ones to fight this devastating disease.
"I would urge people in the target groups to be screened when their invitations arrive; there are preventable cancers and treatable ones which can be eradicated if caught early enough. Breast and bowel cancer claim a horrific number of lives each year; we can all help to bring this down."
ENDS
Notes to Editors:
Breast cancer screening is now being offered to women from the age of 47 (previously 50) and bowel cancer screening to men and women between 60 and 69.
Liz Lynne jointly formed MEPs against Cancer in 2005; it is an all-party informal group of 56 MEPs committed to promoting action on cancer as an EU priority and harnessing European health policy to that end. For more information please visit the MAC website: www.mepsagainstcancer.org
Cancer: Key facts and figures
Bowel cancer: UK incidence is worse than most EU Member States, ranking 15th of 27, with an incidence of 54.9 (male) and 34.8 (female) per 100,000 population, slightly better than the overall EU-wide figure of 59 (m) & 35.6 (f) per 100,000 people.
Incidence in the West Midlands is slightly higher than the UK average at around 36 (m) and 57 (f) per 100,000 people. (Cancer Research UK)
Screening for bowel cancer can reduce the chances of dying by 16%. (The Independent)
Breast cancer: UK incidence is worse than most EU Member States ranking 20th out of 27, with an incidence rate of 122.2 women per 100,000 women, worse than the overall EU-wide figure of 110.3 per 100,000.
UK mortality also compares badly, with a rate of 27.3 women per 100,000 women, compared to the overall EU-wide mortality rate of 25 per 100,000.
In England, breast cancer screening is estimated to save around 1400 lives per year
Survival rates in England and Wales have been improving for over 20 years: in 2001-3 the 20-year survival rate was 64% as opposed to 44% in the early 1990s. (Cancer Research UK)
EU-wide figures:
There are more than 2.2 million new cases and more than 1.1 cancer deaths in the EU 25 each year
Every day, over 6000 Europeans are diagnosed with cancer and more than 3000 die from their disease
In women breast cancer is the most common form of cancer, amounting to nearly 31% of all incidence cases
The number of Europeans with cancer will increase dramatically by 2015 due to the ageing population (www.iarc.fr)
What would you like to do next?
-
Subscribe for updates
Follow the party's activity on...
- Twitter:
- Liberal Democrats
- Facebook:
- Liberal Democrats
- YouTube:
- Liberal Democrats