Hansard

I have lodged this motion because this is our first meeting in October and October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The pink ribbon and its tartan counterpart are symbols of the Scottish Breast Cancer Campaign and I know that those who run the campaign are delighted that we have chosen to debate the subject this evening.

I believe that there is support for the formation of an all-party parliamentary group on breast cancer awareness and I welcome the involvement of my colleague Malcolm Chisholm, who is the former secretary of the Westminster all-party group on breast cancer. I hope that he will offer us his expertise.

Breast cancer is the most common malignancy experienced by women in Scotland. It is different from other types of cancer in that there are few known ways of preventing the disease. The Scottish Breast Cancer Campaign has pointed out that the chances of winning the national lottery are one in 14 million, but that the number of women who will suffer from breast cancer is one in 12.

Breast cancer is the leading cause of death for British women aged between 35 and 49. In total, 3,000 Scottish women each year are affected by breast cancer, accounting for a quarter of all newly diagnosed cases. International figures show that Scotland has the highest rate of breast cancer among developed nations. Surprisingly, the incidence appears to be higher in women from affluent areas than in women from deprived areas. Although nothing can yet be concluded from those statistics, the message is that breast cancer cuts across the class divide. The reasons for that cannot be easily explained.

The statistics for breast cancer are endless. They serve a useful purpose in illustrating the need for action but, in language that everyone can understand, they mean that breast cancer threatens all women. The only scientific certainties are that the risk of breast cancer threatens women more the older they get, and that there are few known ways of reducing the incidence of the disease.

We can tell smokers that quitting smoking can help reduce their chances of contracting lung disease, and we can tell those of us who are unhealthy eaters that a low-fat diet can reduce the risk of heart disease. However, such known factors do not seem to exist in a way that would allow us to reduce the incidence of breast cancer simply by encouraging people to change their lifestyle. Changing one's lifestyle is important, but it will not necessarily reduce the risk of breast cancer.

The strategy must be based on pinpointing the age at which women become most at risk and screening them regularly to catch the disease as early as possible. Breast cancer screening and self-awareness are the only real ways of allowing our doctors to manage breast cancer and attempt to cure it with the least invasion and with a fully supported, high-quality service.

Yesterday, I visited the west of Scotland breast screening service, which is based in my constituency, conveniently close to my office. It is always easier to understand the complexities of an issue if one has seen the service at first hand. I told the staff at the centre that the whole Parliament has an interest in breast cancer screening and would be debating the subject this evening.

There are seven centres covering the whole of Scotland. Women over 50 years of age are screened and, increasingly, a number of women now refer themselves to the service. That is to be welcomed. More women than ever before are becoming aware of the need for early detection.

Although I said that the disease cuts across the class divide, sadly I have to report that the service providers in the west of Scotland are concerned that more women from poorer areas do not come for screening. If a way of dealing with that is not found, many women will not benefit from the ideas that are behind the screening programme. One notable fact about the centre that I mentioned is that it is away from an acute hospital setting—an idea that should be encouraged, as it will help to attract more women to the early detection schemes.

I could say much about the need to move to digital equipment, or about the decisions that need to be made regarding whether women should have two diagnostic views taken rather than one, but those matters can be discussed if we decide to form an all-party group.

We all know of someone in our lives who has suffered from breast cancer, and we know the devastation that it has caused to many women and their families. I sponsored this motion with my colleague Margaret Curran. We knew that the Parliament would welcome this debate, and we seek support from men as much as from women. It would give women in Scotland a morale boost to know that there are issues over which we can discard our party lines and set an example for other groups.

We have tentatively set a date for a breakfast for Breakthrough Breast Cancer, which is to be held in the members' lounge at 09:30 during the last week in October. The idea is to encourage women to change their lifestyles—and perhaps ourselves, at the same time. We will have more details about that.

As the Scottish Breast Cancer Campaign pointedly says, do not be afraid; be aware. Today, we can show that women make a difference in this Parliament.