Meeting of the Parliament 08 February 2023
I, too, thank Ruth Maguire for bringing this important debate to the chamber. I am sorry that I am not in the chamber but at home.
I will make a short contribution, because I know that we have a lot of business to get through today. My first point is that it was an absolute honour to co-host, with Ruth Maguire, the drop-in event for MSPs with Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust as part of cervical cancer prevention week. It was crucial that members had the opportunity to learn about the statistics in their regions relating to cervical cancer and HPV vaccine availability and uptake, as well as the general work of Jo’s trust and the work that it does in raising awareness across Scotland.
The report that Jo’s trust published last month entitled “We can end cervical cancer: The opportunities and challenges to eliminating cervical cancer in the UK” raises some concerning points. Notably, it highlights that the incidence in Scotland per 100,000 is higher than that in any other part of the United Kingdom and more than three times higher than the WHO target. Therefore, it is important that we take the issue very seriously.
The report also indicates that, as we have heard from many speakers, people in the most deprived areas are, by quite some distance, less likely to attend screening appointments. That is even more concerning given that Jo’s trust tells us that 50 per cent of instances of cervical cancer in the UK are in women who have never been screened. Yet again, we see that health inequalities in Scotland are deep and divisive. I have often raised in the chamber the point that health inequalities are taking lives.
That is why I have repeatedly asked the minister about self-sampling, and why I am pleased that many members have raised that issue tonight. Cancer charities feel that self-sampling is one of the most important issues among the top five priorities for screening programmes across the UK, and that it could help at that level.
In closing, I want to ask the minister about the pilot project in Ayrshire and Arran for people with physical disabilities. We have spoken about the health inequality that exists for women with physical disability. I hope to visit the service there with Jo’s trust, and I hope that the minister will see that as an important step in making sure that we get that right for those women.
In the interests of time, I will close there. I thank everybody for their contributions. I again thank Ruth Maguire, and I thank the minister for responding.