Hansard

The Presiding Officer (Tricia Marwick) NPA

Good morning. The first item of business is a debate on motion S4M-00956, in the name of Murdo Fraser, on cancer drugs and their availability in Scotland. I ...

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con) Con

We have all seen newspaper headlines such as “Scots ‘worst’ for cancer survival”, “Lung cancer survival among the lowest in Europe” and Scotland “has the low...

The Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Health, Wellbeing and Cities Strategy (Nicola Sturgeon) SNP

I welcome the debate. As all of us in the chamber will recognise, the issues are complex, emotive, sensitive and often very challenging. Because of that, how...

Murdo Fraser Con

I entirely understand the cabinet secretary’s point about equity. However, at the heart of that very question is the fact that we are where we are in relatio...

Nicola Sturgeon SNP

I have already challenged that proposition and am happy to do so in greater detail in discussion with Murdo Fraser.The second key equity issue is the risk of...

Alison McInnes (North East Scotland) (LD) LD

Back in 2009, in response to the Public Petitions Committee inquiry, the cabinet secretary outlined three steps that her Government would take to improve acc...

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab) Lab

I, too, thank the Conservatives for bringing the debate on access to cancer drugs to the chamber, because it gives us all an opportunity to consider how well...

Nicola Sturgeon SNP

This is a point of information rather than a question, but Jackie Baillie will be aware—if she is not, she will be soon—that as part of the improvements that...

Jackie Baillie Lab

That will be helpful. I hope that we can access the information soon.I encourage the Scottish Government to make further improvements. I pose the question wh...

The Presiding Officer NPA

We move to the open debate. I remind members that speeches should be of four minutes. Time is really tight.09:40

Dennis Robertson (Aberdeenshire West) (SNP) SNP

The debate is an emotive one. I thank Breakthrough Breast Cancer, Macmillan Cancer Support and Myeloma UK for their briefing.Murdo Fraser used the word “mora...

Malcolm Chisholm (Edinburgh Northern and Leith) (Lab) Lab

I very much welcome the debate, which highlights dilemmas that we face now, and which will become far more acute in the near future.On a recent visit to the ...

Alex Johnstone (North East Scotland) (Con) Con

For a country that is reputedly obsessed with sport, Scotland’s health record is not good and we all know it. For much of the time that the Parliament has ex...

Alex Johnstone Con

I will not take an intervention because I have only four minutes and need to get one key principle across.Some years ago, I visited a research unit at the Un...

George Adam (Paisley) (SNP) SNP

I know that my time is limited so I will try to be brief. This debate is on another emotive subject and I take on board the story of Murdo Fraser’s constitue...

Murdo Fraser Con

If the member had read our fully costed manifesto he would have seen that, among other things, we do not think that it is right to be giving free prescriptio...

George Adam SNP

I am glad I did not read the manifesto. The people of Paisley have an entirely different idea. They do not want to have to decide to pay either for their mes...

Kevin Stewart (Aberdeen Central) (SNP) SNP

Everyone has said that the debate is very emotive, and it is. There is probably no one in the chamber or watching the debate who has not been touched by canc...

Alex Johnstone Con

Would the member concede that, although it is not the job of politicians to decide what drugs should be available, it is certainly the job of politicians to ...

Kevin Stewart SNP

I listened to yesterday’s debate on mental health in which there seemed to be agreement that it was up to clinicians to decide what to prescribe. For the sit...

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con) Con

Will the member give way?

Kevin Stewart SNP

I have given way once and I have only four minutes.I wish the debate was more about prevention than about setting up a separate drugs fund. We have heard abo...

The Presiding Officer NPA

The member really needs to wind up.

Kevin Stewart SNP

Thank you, Presiding Officer.We should think about prevention rather than necessarily having to deal with cures all the time.09:58

Mary Fee (West Scotland) (Lab) Lab

I welcome the opportunity to speak in such a sensitive but crucial debate. The Scottish Conservatives are right to bring the issue to the chamber today. I su...

Mark McDonald (North East Scotland) (SNP) SNP

Like many in the chamber and in wider society, I have experience of losing a family member to cancer. It is worth noting that none of us in the chamber is im...

The Deputy Presiding Officer (Elaine Smith) Lab

Mr McDonald, will you conclude?

Mark McDonald SNP

I will conclude with one final quotation from the oncology commission journal of The Lancet:“prevention is also essential and this too demands political will...

The Deputy Presiding Officer Lab

We turn to closing speeches. I call Alison McInnes, who has kindly offered to take less than her allocated time.10:05

Alison McInnes LD

I listened carefully to the cabinet secretary’s speech this morning and found it illuminating. The situation is not as clear-cut as the Conservatives have su...