A new initiative to help tackle bowel
cancer in Scotland was announced by the Scottish Executive today, 30th
August 2005.
Bowel cancer is the second most common cause of death from cancer in
Scotland.
In 2004 there were 1550 deaths from the disease.
The Scottish national bowel screening programme will begin from
March 2007, with all NHS Board areas being covered by 2009.
Men and women aged between 50 and 74 will be screened every two years.
The screening programme aims to reduce mortality by 15 per cent, potentially
saving over 150 lives a year.
Announcing the details Health Minister Andy Kerr said:
" Reducing
cancer deaths is one of the top health priorities for the Scottish Executive.
_ If
a cancer is identified early, treatment can be delivered quickly and
survival rates improve. That is why screening is so important.
_ Bowel
cancer is second to lung cancer as the most common cause of cancer deaths
among men and women in Scotland.
_ Following the successful pilot
in NHS Tayside, Grampian and Fife I am pleased to announce the national
roll out of the programme.
_ This screening programme aims to reduce
mortality by 15 per cent, potentially saving over 150 lives a year.
_ Testing
kits will be posted to 650,000 people in the target age range every year.
These tests are completed at home and are then returned
for screening. Patients will receive results within two weeks.
_ Screening in the pilot areas is continuing.
We are investing £2
million of capital funding to develop an IT system and to expand the
national facility in Dundee where returned kits will be screened."
The incidence of bowel cancer rises with age. From birth to age 64 the
lifetime risk is 1 in 59 for men and 1 in 85 for women, from birth to
age 74 this rises to 1 in 27 for men and 1 in 38 for women. There are
around 3500 new cases every year
Research has shown that screening men and women for bowel cancer using
Faecal Occult Blood (FOB) testing can reduce the mortality rate from
bowel cancer by 15 per cent in those screened.
The screening programme will start in 2007 and will be phased
in gradually over a three year period giving Health Boards time to prepare
and allocate resources. The programme will cost £19.5 million in
its first three years from August 2007 October 2009. It will be paid
for using funds from existing NHS Board allocation
increases.
The programme will be run from a central laboratory, IT call/recall
and helpline facility based at Dundee's Kings Cross.
A pilot (test) scheme has been operating in NHS Tayside, Grampian and
Fife.
In this scheme men and women aged 50 to 69 were screened. It started
in
April
2000 and
first
round concluded in March 2003. An evaluation of the pilot confirmed the
potential benefits of colorectal cancer screening. These findings were
endorsed by the UK National Screening Committee. The pilot demonstrated
that 60 per cent of those targeted accept the screening invitation. Two
per cent of these will have a positive test result of which 10 per cent
will have a cancer.
Material in this news item
was first published by the Scottish Executive (Government for Scotland,
UK) on 30th August 2005.
For further information, please visit their website
using the link below. |
