Hansard

I congratulate Linda Fabiani on securing time for this debate and I thank her for lodging a motion on an important issue that affects many women in Scotland—and has done for many years.

Breast cancer awareness month presents an important opportunity for us not just to reflect on what has happened over the years and the campaign for more effective treatment and support for women who are diagnosed with breast cancer, but to ensure that we consider the future and the opportunities that will arise as a result of advances in medical science. Alongside that, we need to keep focused on a cancer that continues to affect so many people in Scotland.

I thank in particular the range of charities that do a tremendous amount of work not only to raise awareness among women and the general public, but to support women and their families as they undergo treatment after their diagnosis. Although that bit can often be forgotten, it should not be underestimated.

For most of us, being diagnosed with cancer is probably the worst scenario that we can imagine. Our response might well be informed by past experience of seeing a friend or loved one with the disease. Although I am not sure that we will ever be able to eradicate that fear, it is worth bearing in mind that the outcomes from a cancer diagnosis are, for many cancers, radically different from what they were 20 or 30 years ago.

In the debate, a number of members have mentioned how breast cancer has touched their lives and has resulted, perhaps, in the loss of a friend. However, many of us who might not have lost a friend through breast cancer are likely to know someone who has survived it. After all, the number of women who survive the illness is increasing, largely as a result of the good progress that has been made in treatment over the past two decades. Moreover, breast cancer screening has helped to ensure that women are diagnosed earlier, which means that treatment can be given earlier and less aggressive treatments used. Another piece of good news is that nine out of 10 women diagnosed with stage 1 breast cancer now survive beyond five years.

That said, we need to recognise that Scotland’s cancer survival rates continue to lag behind those in other European countries. Given that and our ageing population, we expect the incidence of cancer to increase. Clearly we have to do more in this area.

We know that breast cancer is common, with one in nine Scottish women being diagnosed with it in their lifetime, but by detecting it earlier we can treat people while they are in better health and with, as I said, less aggressive treatments. However, if we are to continue to turn the tables in our fight against cancer, we have to get better at detecting it even earlier, and that is exactly the aim of the detect cancer early programme to which a number of members have referred. It is all about changing people’s mindset about cancer and its signs and ensuring that not only individuals but our clinicians and other healthcare support staff are more vigilant.

Part of the programme is a social marketing strategy that seeks to ensure that health professionals have more of an understanding. We have also started a new programme of work with Healthcare Improvement Scotland to review the Scottish referral guidelines for breast, colorectal and lung cancer and find out whether they can be improved. We are also examining the capacity issues that are likely to arise in screening and diagnostic services as a result of the changing demographic situation in Scotland.

As far as breast cancer is concerned, we have launched the breast cancer social marketing campaign. Of course, each year many MSPs get involved in some form of social marketing themselves when they don pink hats, pink rosettes or whatever pink thing they choose to put on, but it is all part of the social marketing campaign that we carry out with third sector organisations in order to raise awareness.

Jackie Baillie made the important point that some of the research shows that women are not necessarily as aware of the common signs of breast cancer as they should be, nor are they aware of the changing survival rates or of a variety of changes that can take place within a breast. That is why we produced the breast cancer campaign. It would be fair to say that it has generated a considerable amount of interest and discussion, which is good, because that is exactly what it was meant to do. It was meant to encourage people to talk about such matters much more openly. As Audrey Birt says, people will just have to get over it and start to discuss these things much more openly, because that is the healthy way in which to address this challenge.

Several members referred to the screening programme. We are putting further investment into that programme over the next three years to upgrade the system to a digital one, which is much more effective.

I am conscious that we need to make more progress, particularly for women from more deprived communities who might not take up the opportunity of screening. Mary Fee made a point about the health inequalities that exist for individuals who have learning disabilities. There are clearly grounds for us to consider more closely how to cover that.

I give members my commitment that, where we can take further measures to encourage more women from deprived communities to take up the opportunity of screening, we will do so in a way that recognises that some of them may require support. If they have learning disabilities, we will make the system as accessible to them as possible and ensure that we encourage them to make use of screening in Scotland.

Meeting closed at 17:56.