Hansard

I, too, thank Emma Harper for securing the debate, and I welcome and thank those who have joined us in the public gallery. As I outlined in a previous debate that Emma Harper led, there cannot be anyone in the chamber who has not been touched by cancer and who does not have either their own cancer story to tell or that of a loved one, family or friend. In this session of the Parliament, we have been impacted by the death of our friend and colleague Christina McKelvie, as well as the cancer journeys of other colleagues—Edward Mountain and Ruth Maguire—as we were in the previous session by the situation of our friend and former colleague John Scott. It is important to acknowledge those things in any workplace. In my maiden speech, I shared my story of losing my mum to breast cancer when I was seven and she was 44. I remember the loving story that Emma Harper told about her sister, Buffy, in a previous debate. It is important that we take the opportunities to share such stories.

Yesterday, alongside Jackie Baillie, I chaired the Scottish cancer conference at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow. Yet again, it was a successful conference that got me thinking about the amazing people who I have had the honour to meet as an MSP over the past decade serving in the Parliament.

Two individuals who I take the opportunity to pay tribute to are Lisa Fleming and Jen Hardy. Both were at the heart of Make 2nds Count, which was founded in Edinburgh and has gone on to become a UK-wide charity that focuses on giving hope to women and men who are living with secondary metastatic breast cancer. Both have done so much remarkable work to continue to meet the needs of people who are living with breast cancer.

Jen Hardy went on to form and found Cancer Card, which is a cancer support directory that provides personalised support services. Lisa Fleming founded the House of Hope, which recently opened in the capital and is Scotland’s first bespoke support and wellbeing centre specifically for those who are affected by breast cancer.

There is something remarkable about women in Edinburgh using their personal experience to drive change and improve the lives of others who are living with cancer. Jen Hardy and Lisa Fleming, like Maggie Keswick Jencks before them, have used their cancer diagnosis to help to improve the lives of other people. Clare Adamson eloquently outlined the need for better data to help to achieve that. Make 2nds Count and Breast Cancer Now are clear that we need to see further progress in that key area, and I agree.

I do not think that men who are living with secondary breast cancer have been discussed in the chamber very often. Approximately 40 men in Scotland are diagnosed with breast cancer each year. It is interesting to note that, according to research by the University of Aberdeen, the incidence of male breast cancer in Scotland increased between 1992 and 2017. That rising trend was most pronounced in the north of Scotland and in rural areas. We need to understand the data to help us to analyse why that is happening.

For many people who are living with secondary breast cancer, there has been significant and—I think that we need to say this—welcome progress to help them to access drug trials and plan for the next steps of their treatment. It has been remarkable to see how those whom I have known for the past 10 years while serving in Parliament have carried out research on and talked to their advisers about the medical advice in order to push forward for better and kinder treatments.

The final word in Emma Harper’s motion is “empowered”, and my final word is on empowerment. The debate, I hope, is about empowerment and for Parliament again to hear about the need not only to carry out more work to raise awareness but to advocate for change and investment in the data that can help to drive that—our research communities are desperate to be part of that work. The Scottish Government needs to take more action to ensure that we continue to improve data collection on metastatic cancers and that people who live with the condition are better supported, counted and empowered.