OLDER WOMEN AND BREAST CANCER

Early day motion 510, tabled 10 March 2000 by Linda Perham (Labour). Signed by 138 members.

That this House congratulates Age Concern and the UK Breast Cancer Coalition on their campaign to alert women aged 65 years and over of their entitlement to breast screening; is concerned that women aged 65 years and over, who are in the highest risk age group for breast cancer, are not automatically invited for screening; welcomes the Government's commitment to extend automatic screening for 65 to 69 year olds provided the current pilot studies show it would be beneficial to women's health, and is greatly encouraged by the interim results of the East Sussex pilot study indicating that over 70 per cent. of those women who have previously attended screening will continue to do so if invited after the age of 64 years; and calls on the Government to ensure that the NHS Breast Screening Programme is sufficiently resourced to extend the automatic screening for older women as soon as possible after the final pilots report and, as an interim measure, ensure all older women are actively informed of their right to self-refer.

Signatures by party: Labour 82, Liberal Democrat 30, Conservative 10, Labour/Co-operative 10, Plaid Cymru 2, UUP 2, Social Democratic and Labour Party 1, Unknown 1.