Hansard

It gives me great pleasure to stand up this evening to congratulate the Scottish Government on leading the way in bowel cancer screening across the United Kingdom. I take this opportunity to thank the more than 67 members of this Parliament who have supported the motion. That support and the fact that I am able to stand here as an Opposition member to congratulate the Government show a strength in politics that we should all be proud of.

This session of Parliament is probably different from a lot of previous ones, in that three MSPs have had a cancer diagnosis during it. I was delighted when I saw Ruth Maguire back in here earlier this month, but, along with other members of this Parliament, I was devastated when I learned that Christina McKelvie was not to come back.

One in two of us will get a cancer diagnosis during our lifetime. That is perhaps a good thing, if the diagnosis is for a cancer that can be treated. Every year, 4,000 Scots get a diagnosis of bowel cancer. That diagnosis often comes from doing what I have euphemistically called the poo test. People are sent a test kit every two years when they are over 50, and it is a very easy test to do. Actually, if anyone wants to do it earlier, they can get the test online. I checked to see how much that would cost and found that the cheapest test—which is double the sensitivity of the Scottish Government-approved test—costs only £20. Therefore, if any person in Scotland has any of the symptoms, such as blood in their poo, stomach pains, weight loss or a change in bowel habits, or a lump in their stomach, they should, of course, try to see their doctor, but, if they cannot, they should buy an online test, because it can indicate a need to see their doctor at the earliest opportunity.