Coatbridge & Bellshill MP Frank McNally met representatives of the charity Prostate Cancer UK in Parliament as they launched a new report entitled Faster. Fairer. Better: The First-Year Plan for Government .
The objective of the plan is to reduce prostate cancer inequalities and late diagnosis, with it outlining steps the charity believes the new government should take in its first year to improve cancer outcomes.
In the introduction to the report, chief executive of Prostate Cancer UK, Laura Kerby, said: “A new government presents an opportunity to change the way we deliver cancer care in the UK.
“Working together we can save lives by diagnosing prostate cancer faster, fairer and, ultimately, better.”
Prostate Cancer UK has called on the government to make the UK’s health system fairer and reduce inequalities by proactively offering men at the greatest risk of developing prostate cancer access to a PSA blood test, and commissioning a service which allows men aged between 45 and 69 at the greatest risk of prostate cancer to a PSA blood test outside of primary care settings.
Among the other demands the charity has made are improvements in MRI capacity and quality and support for the TRANSFORM trial, which hopes to provide definitive evidence in support of a national screening programme for prostate cancer.
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men in the UK, with more than 52,000 men diagnosed and 12,000 losing their lives to the disease every year.
Commenting after the launch, Mr McNally MP told Lanarkshire Live: “The report launched by Prostate Cancer UK in Parliament was an important paper with some serious recommendations for the new government to improve cancer outcomes and reduce some of the most drastic health inequalities.
“I am sure the Scottish Government, which is responsible for cancer care in Scotland, will be giving the report’s recommendations some serious consideration.
“Prostate cancer is one of the most devastating forms of cancer. Twelve thousand men in Britain lose their lives to prostate cancer each year – it is the second-biggest cancer killing British men.
“It is incumbent on decision-makers to consider all the steps that we can take to bring these dreadful figures down.”
As the UK government collaborates with Prostate Cancer UK, £42 million worth of funding is being committed to deliver the biggest prostate cancer screening trial in decades.
The TRANSFORM trial will use innovative methods to try and detect prostate cancer in thousands of men before it has the potential to spread further and risk their lives.
Victoria Atkins, Health and Social Care Secretary, said: “Cancer survival rates continue to improve in the UK, with the disease being diagnosed at an earlier stage more often. But more must be done.
“Our hope is that this funding will help to save the lives of thousands more men through advanced screening methods that can catch prostate cancer as early as possible.”
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