Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 01 February 2022
I thank Jackie Baillie for bringing this important debate to the chamber.
I want to start by congratulating those who took part in an impressive fundraising achievement in the community that I am proud to represent. Last Tuesday night should have seen the biggest of Shetland’s annual community events. Of course, it was cancelled because of Covid. However, community members decided to do a continuous overnight relay around Lerwick for 12 hours to raise funds for Cancer Research UK’s relay for life. Those efforts have raised more than £13,000 for CRUK. The fact that such a sum has been raised in a small community demonstrates the strength of feeling and support for CRUK in Shetland.
Covid has had a large impact on community events, but it has also significantly impacted fundraising for charities such as CRUK. In addition, there has been a fall in the diagnosis of cancers in recent years. As the motion highlights, one in two people will get cancer in their lifetime. We all know someone in that position.
I have been urging those who are eligible to go for their cervical screening, following reports of a fall in attendance in Shetland and across Scotland. Over its 20 years, Cancer Research UK has done a great amount of awareness raising, which has saved lives. I say to people that, if they notice changes in themselves or their bodies that they are concerned about, please get them checked out. The NHS and their GP are there for them. As Christine Grahame said, do not delay.
Every year in Scotland, around 1,000 people are diagnosed with brain tumours and around 470 people die from brain tumours. I am wearing my Cancer Research UK bracelet on my jacket, but I am also wearing my wear-a-hat day pin to highlight the need to help to find a cure for brain tumours. Brain Tumour Research is a cancer charity that I hold particularly close to my heart.
Before the lockdown measures in March 2020, I was set to host an event here in Parliament with Brain Tumour Research. The charity was going to launch its manifesto, “Together we will find a cure”. March is brain tumour awareness month. The manifesto called on the Scottish Government to invest more in brain tumour research, to improve the patient experience and outcomes, and to drive improvements in the patient experience across NHS Scotland.
I wanted to sponsor that event because it would have highlighted inequities and because a member of my family has faced a brain tumour diagnosis. As with any cancer diagnosis, nothing prepares you for it. However, when you are faced with it, you look at the stark data. Brain tumours kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer does, and they are the chief cause of cancer deaths in children and young people. Only 12 per cent of brain tumour patients survive beyond five years of their diagnosis, whereas 70 per cent of patients diagnosed with breast cancer and more than 40 per cent of those diagnosed with leukaemia survive beyond five years.
Historically, there has been underfunding of research into brain tumours, with just 1 per cent of the national spend on cancer research allocated to brain tumours, according to Brain Tumour Research.
I urge us to work together to support Cancer Research UK, Brain Tumour Research and other valuable cancer charities to close the care gap.
17:55