Question reference: S5W-22014
- Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: 11 March 2019
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Current status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 18 March 2019
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to improve early diagnosis of blood cancer.
Answer
The Scottish Government is committed to early detection – this is reflected in our £42 million Detect Cancer Early (DCE) Programme. DCE’s latest social marketing campaign – Survivors – ran on TV, radio and digital channels across Scotland late 2018 to highlight that more people are surviving cancer than ever before and early detection plays a big part.
The Scottish Cancer Coalition – which includes representation from blood cancer charities - was consulted on the campaign’s development and human interest stories secured through the forum, to encourage individual early action.
Meanwhile, the Scottish Referral Guidelines for Suspected Cancer were clinically refreshed and published in January 2019, to support primary care clinicians in referring patients with symptoms suspicious of cancer. Work is ongoing, with support from Macmillan Cancer Support Scotland and Cancer Research UK, to ensure the revised Guidelines are fully disseminated and adopted across NHSScotland.