Questioning the Prime Minister on breast cancer screening
Stevenage MP Barbara Follett came out in the draw for Prime Minister’s questions last week and because October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, decided to use the opportunity to ask him to lower the age for free, regular breast screening so that women in their forties could also benefit from this life saving service.
Speaking in the House of Commons Mrs Follett said “Women across the country have been heartened by the much improved breast cancer survival rate figures recently reported by Cancer Research UK. Those are mainly due to early, and better, access to screening, but this is only available only to women over 50”. Mrs Follett than asked the Prime Minister to consider making screening available to women in their 40s as well.
Afterwards, Mrs Follett said that she was very pleased because the Prime Minister had responded so positively. “The government has vastly increased the resources available for the treatment and prevention of breast cancer and I am proud of what it has done to save, and improve, the lives of so many women in Britain today”.
Mrs Follett urged the women of Hertfordshire to become more breast aware. She said “This means checking so that anything unusual can be reported promptly to a doctor. At present, 41,000 women in Britain develop breast cancer each year. We all have to do what we can to bring this figure down. Small checks can make big differences”
Issued: 18.10.05
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