LAUNCH OF NATIONAL BOWEL CANCER SCREENING PROGRAMME (No. 2)

Motion Text

That this House notes that bowel cancer kills 16,000 people a year and is the second biggest cause of cancer death in the UK; observes that early screening reduces mortaility rates by about 15 per cent.; welcomes the Government's commitment to introduce a National Bowel Cancer Screening Programmme in April 2006, which will be the first NHS cancer screening programme in England for men as well as women; but is alarmed that no funding has yet been allocated despite the fact that it will then take another six months for services to be commissioned; notes the recent British Medical Journal editorial which stated that the NHS financial crisis is clearly the cause of the delay; and calls on the Government to ensure that the planned screening programme is begun without further delay and that the necessary funds are released as a matter of urgency.