Health Screening Programmes sources

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  • Government advisers are to consider increasing genetic screening programmes for pregnant women to reduce the number of babies born with inherited learning disorders. James Meikle, health correspondent Wednesday September 3, 2003 The Guardian
  • The government's plans to introduce screening for bowel cancer across the UK could founder on the inadequate and over-stretched existing services for diagnosing gut disorders, according to a major study published today.  Sarah Boseley Tuesday January 13, 2004 The Guardian
  • One in nine women in Britain will develop breast cancer in their lifetime. And the chance of getting it is increasing alarmingly, particularly for those under 50. What is going wrong, and why are wealthy women most at risk? Sarah Boseley investigates. Thursday January 15, 2004 The Guardian
  • What causes breast cancer? Lifestyle versus pollutants. Sarah Boseley Thursday January 15, 2004 The Guardian
  • How to lower your risk of contracting breast cancer. Sarah Boseley Thursday January 15, 2004 The Guardian
  • Leading specialists in breast cancer believe all women should undergo screening from the age of 40, instead of having to wait until they are 50, a Guardian investigation into the country's rising rates of the cancer has revealed. Sarah Boseley, health editor Thursday January 15, 2004 The Guardian
  • Send for the screen saver. Leader Thursday January 15, 2004 The Guardian
  • England's screening programme for the sexually transmitted infection chlamydia is to be extended to cover 16 new areas, public health minister Melanie Johnson has announced.  Tash Shifrin Thursday January 15, 2004
  • Positive approaches to the breast cancer epidemic. Letters Friday January 16, 2004 The Guardian
  • Some forms of cancer screening encouraged within the health service have not been scientifically proven to cut deaths and may do more harm than good, a leading doctor says today. Sarah Boseley, health editor Friday February 6, 2004 The Guardian
  • Does cancer screening really work? We all assume that routine scans to spot deadly cancers are a good thing. But some experts now believe they may do more harm than good. Lucy Atkins and Margaret McCartney report. Tuesday February 10, 2004 The Guardian
  • A new brain scan could give doctors as much greater advance warning of whether cancer treatment is working.  BBC News Friday February 20, 2004
  • Bowel test for cancer more patient-friendly.  BBC News Friday February 20, 2004
  • Patients 'get cancer gene advice'.  BBC News Friday February 20, 2004
  • Tony Blair will today announce plans to increase the number of cancer scans done in Britain by 250,000 a year - a 10% increase - in a drive to cut lengthening waiting times between patients seeing their GP and starting life-saving treatment. Michael White, political editor Thursday May 27, 2004 The Guardian
  • More women with a family history of breast cancer will be offered yearly checks for the disease under new NHS guidelines launched today. At present women over the age of 50 are offered mammograms every three years under the NHS breast screening programme. But the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (Nice) now recommends that some women in their 40s with a family history of breast cancer should be offered annual mammograms. Women with at least one close relative who have had the disease are known to be at increased risk. Wednesday June 23, 2004
  • About 100,000 women have been saved from premature death by the NHS cervical cancer screening programme, according to a study for Cancer Research UK. Experts argue that the "remarkably successful" programme, launched in 1988, has saved Britain from an epidemic of the disease after a three-fold increase in deaths of women under-35 in the two decades before screening began. James Meikle, health correspondent Friday July 16, 2004 The Guardian
  • Millions more people with hypertension will be put on tablets to reduce their blood pressure, in an effort to cut deaths from strokes and heart disease. New guidance for treatment on the NHS in England and Wales should mean far more patients being routinely tested and monitored, as well as an increase in the number of drugs each patient takes to control the condition. James Meikle, health correspondent Wednesday August 25, 2004 The Guardian
  • Mammograms are not as effective at detecting potentially life-threatening breast cancers in thin women, those taking hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and those who have had previous breast surgery as they are in other women, scientists reveal today. Sarah Boseley, health editor Friday August 27, 2004 The Guardian
  • Thousands of men may have unnecessarily undergone an invasive operation to remove their prostate, sometimes suffering impotence and incontinence as a result, because of a screening test which was yesterday written off as all but useless. The PSA test is a blood test that measures levels of prostate specific antigen, a protein produced by the prostate gland. It will tell doctors that a man has a prostate cancer, but scientists in the US said yesterday that in many cases the man can live with the cancer and the treatment may be worse than the cure. Sarah Boseley, health editor Saturday September 11, 2004 The Guardian
  • A national screening programme for bowel cancer which is the first of its kind in Europe is to be rolled out across England, the health secretary, John Reid, is due to announce today. The programme, which was first promised by the government in the NHS Plan in 2000, is expected to reduce deaths from the treatable disease by 15%. The decision to roll out a national screening programme from 2006 to adults in their sixties follows the success of a three-year-old pilot scheme which relies on testing stools for blood as an indicator of the cancer, which claims 16,000 lives every year. Debbie Andalo Wednesday October 27, 2004
  • The first national screening programme of men as well as women starts in 18 months' time, aimed at preventing more than 2,000 deaths from bowel cancer, the health secretary, John Reid, said yesterday. Sarah Boseley, health editor Thursday October 28, 2004 The Guardian
  • The NHS breast cancer screening programme detected more than 11,000 women with the disease last year - an increase of 14% on the 12 months before, it was announced yesterday. The programme, offered to all women from 50 to 70, was hailed by the health secretary, John Reid, as "one of the best in the world". Sarah Boseley, health editor Saturday February 26, 2005 The Guardian
  • People in their 60s will be sent home testing kits under a new government programme to screen for bowel cancer, it was announced today. All men and women aged 60 to 69 will be invited to take part in the programme, which is to be introduced in England by 2009. Tuesday August 2, 2005
  • Families with a history of cancers and other inherited diseases may soon be able to ensure their babies do not have the genes responsible by opting for IVF instead of natural conception. Fertility regulators are considering whether to widen the rules which already allow parents to ensure babies are not born with faulty genes that will inevitably lead to conditions such as cystic fibrosis and Huntington's disease. James Meikle, health correspondent Friday August 12, 2005 The Guardian
  • A little knowledge is a dangerous thing, is the age-old message from the British Medical Association in producing a report that warns against unregulated or ad hoc screening. While intuitively it may seem like a sensible idea to undergo whatever medical tests are available, the BMA's report indicates that there is a downside. Tests to screen for cancer, whole-body scanning tests and genetic testing may be unnecessary and even downright dangerous, yet such tests are now freely advertised in the media and accessible via the internet. Thursday August 25, 2005 The Guardian
  • Genetic test revolution aids fight to end cancer. Doctors call for widespread screening to bring an end to hereditary diseases, write Anushka Asthana and Robin McKie. Sunday October 2, 2005 The Observer
  • Two-thirds of women who are diagnosed with breast cancer today can expect to survive for at least 20 years, according to figures from a cancer epidemiologist. The screening programme, which picks up tumours early, and better treatment with innovative drugs have contributed to the steady rise in survival rates in the UK, said Michel Coleman of Cancer Research UK, but it is too early to know whether Britain's survival rates have caught up with the best of those in Europe. Sarah Boseley, health editor Tuesday October 11, 2005 The Guardian
  • All British people will be offered an NHS "MoT" in which they will be told how likely they are to develop certain diseases and illnesses based on tests taken at five stages during their lives. After the tests, to be revealed in the health white paper next week, those who are most at risk will be given personal trainers and targets on exercise and diet regimes aimed at improving the state of their health. Colin Blackstock Saturday January 28, 2006 The Guardian
  • Plan dismissed as an 'MoT lite'. Plans to offer an NHS health check at key stages of life were called an "MoT lite" in the House of Commons. The scheme will not initially involve seeing a GP or nurse, but will involve filling in an online questionnaire.  Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Times 31 January 2005
  • Hanging in the balance. There are fears that a national £34m screening programme for bowel cancer could be a victim of the current spending crisis in the NHS. Although the Department of Health says it is committed to the roll-out, no assurance has been given that the agreed funding will be protected.  Summary by Keep our NHS Public of British Medical Journal 17 February 2006
  • Breast cancer screening is saving around 1,400 lives a year in the UK, according to a report published yesterday which hopes to lay to rest the disputes about its effectiveness. Sarah Boseley, health editor Wednesday February 22, 2006 The Guardian
  • One in 10 women diagnosed with breast cancer undergoes unnecessary treatment, according to research that suggests some cancers that would probably not have caused any harm during a woman's lifetime are being picked up by rigorous screening. While screening reduces the death rate, over-diagnosis is inevitable in a programme that is designed to catch breast cancers early. But the scale of over-diagnosis has not been known and estimates have varied from 1% to 54%. In the British Medical Journal today, scientists in Sweden where the original trials were carried out that paved the way for the NHS screening programme, publish a study that gives a definitive over-diagnosis calculation of 10%. A team from Malmö University hospital followed participants from the trials which took place between 1976 and 1986. Sarah Boseley, health editor Friday March 3, 2006 The Guardian
  • A national screening programme aimed at saving more than 1,000 lives a year from bowel cancer has been cut because of the funding crisis facing the NHS. The project, which would pick up the disease in patients before they developed any symptoms, was due to be rolled out across the UK in two weeks time. Bowel cancer is a major killer in Britain, and is diagnosed in 34,000 patients a year, claiming 16,000 lives annually.  Jo Revill, health editor Sunday March 26, 2006 The Observer
  • Britain's leading cancer charity yesterday accused the government of a "gross betrayal of trust" which would endanger lives by dragging its feet over the introduction of a national bowel cancer screening programme. Cancer Research UK says its denunciation of the government stems from frustration that little has been done to set up the programme, which was promised last August and is supposed to begin next week. There are supposed to be five screening "hubs" around the country, but four of the five centres have not been chosen, it says. Men and women aged 60-69 are supposed to be sent home testing kits from next month, but none has yet been ordered and the government has failed to confirm full funding for the programme, the charity says. Polly Curtis and Sarah Boseley Thursday March 30, 2006 The Guardian
  • NHS cash crisis will delay national bowel screening programme, warns expert. The NHS financial crisis will delay the government's bowel cancer screening programme, which is due to begin this week, senior doctor Professor Wendy Atkin has warned. The government has said that from April 2006 it will provide £37.5m to screen men and women aged 60-69 every two years. But this deadline cannot be met because it will take around six months to commission the screening centres, and no funding has yet been provided. Professor Atkin said: "The government's short term financial difficulties should not be permitted to erode national confidence in its commitment to tackling bowel cancer death rates." Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  British Medical Journal 31 March 2006
  • Bowel screening launch curtailed. The Government's own cancer screening tsar has contradicted ministers' insistence that the national bowel cancer screening programme will go ahead this month 'as planned'. Julietta Patnick, director of NHS Cancer Screening Programmes, said: "I don't know how much money I've got, I don't know how many screening centres I can open, and we haven't bought the kits yet." The programme would probably go ahead in some form, she said. But the situation was on "an amber light". In a response to a Parliamentary question about the issue, health minister Rosie Winterton could only identify one area where the programme was going ahead - the existing pilot site in Rugby, which has been operating for six years. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of  DoctorUpdate 5 April 2006
  • Concern over private medical screening. Companies selling private medical screening face government controls over concerns the tests make patients anxious and put pressure on the NHS, a senior medical advisor said. Muir Gray of the government's National Screening Committee (NSC) told medical magazine Pulse that the private health sector needed regulating over the tests. Medical screening on offer from private firms ranges from cheap cholesterol checks to whole body scans costing thousands of pounds. "We are thinking of how we control private testing because it's an example of low value activity which generates work for the health service, may cause harm and does not benefit the individual," said Gray, the NSC's programme director. "Lots of GPs I know are very concerned about people who go to a private clinic for a blood test and then the people who run the private clinic say 'Oh your kidney results look a bit funny -- just go and see your GP'," he added. "We'll look at different forms of regulation -- some from the Healthcare Commission, some through the Advertising Standards Authority, some through the Office of Fair Trading. It will be an evidence-based regime," Gray said. "I don't think we've got a proper system of regulation at all for the independent sector," he said. The Royal College of GPs backed the concerns. But leading providers of private testing vigorously defended their services. The Department of Health said it would consider the NSC's recommendations carefully. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Mirror 22 March 2007
  • Women face infertility as sexual health promise broken by Labour. Thousands of young women are facing infertility because of Labour's broken promises on sexual health, alarming new figures suggest. Ministers have failed to implement a pledge made in 2004 to introduce a nationwide screening programme for chlamydia by this month, Sexual health clinics are struggling to hit government targets because they lack money. Research suggests that 60% have diverted money earmarked for sexual health into other areas. The Department of Health now says it hopes to ensure 100% coverage for chlamydia screening by the end of the year, despite a pledge in a White Paper published three years ago to have it in place by March. The Government has been criticised for failing to tackle the crisis, with doctors saying sexual health is being sidelined in favour of other priorities. According to the latest figures, just 43% or primary care trusts were screening for chlamydia last December - suggesting little improvement since June 2006, when the number was 36%. Andrew Lansley also accused the Government of failing to deliver a promised £50m advertising campaign to tackle the rise in sexually transmitted infections. Two years after the campaign was pledged, it has not been launched. The Health Department has launched a £4m advertising campaign encouraging the use of condoms - leaving £46m missing. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Mail 25 March 2007
  • New cancer tests could do more harm than good, says specialist. A new generation of tests for cancer could do more harm than good by increasingly diagnosing tumours which may not pose an immediate health risk, according to a leading cancer specialist. People will increasingly have to chose between radical surgery or living with the uncertainty of a cancer diagnosis, said Bruce Ponder, head of Cancer Research UK Cambridge Research Institute, at Cambridge University. The new generation of screening programmes, scanning techniques and genetic tests, which will help diagnose people with the beginnings of life-threatening cancer, will pick up on more very small, latent and benign cancers. People could face a lifetime of anxiety and a decision about whether to undergo radical surgery loading pressure on the already stretched NHS, he says. "One of the things that may happen is that in our quest to develop better and better tests for early diagnosis of cancer we will end up detecting quite a lot of cancers that were never going to do anything in the lifetime of the individual ... we also need to find better ways to find out which cancers mean business and which cancers don't," he said. Polly Curtis, health correspondent Tuesday April 3, 2007 The Guardian
  • GPs call for cancer screening system to be halted. Doctors are demanding a halt to a new computerised cancer screening system amid fears it undermines patient care. A national, paperless programme for cervical cancer tests is due to be launched in Scotland in five weeks. However, GPs say hundreds of staff have to be trained to use the system, there are issues with equipment and there is no back-up if the technology goes wrong. Calls for a delay while the process is reviewed are to be put to doctors across the country at a British Medical Association conference in Glasgow next week. GP Jim O'Neil, a member of Glasgow medical committee, said that in Glasgow alone, 1000 staff have to undergo the two-hour training package in order to work the new software. There are concerns about the compatibility of the different equipment required to produce the barcode labels and, he said, doctors have been told they cannot revert to the paper system if the computer program crashes. Scotland's most vulnerable women, who do not take up routine offers of screening, are most likely to miss out under such circumstances, he said. Patients will still receive their test results by letter, but Dr O'Neil said GPs would no longer receive a paper record and will have to access the computer program to know if someone has an abnormal result. "There's just a risk we may not find it, or see it or even look for it," he said. "Glasgow GPs are worried about this . . . We think it is being rushed. We think May 28 is too soon and we need to iron out the problems before it happens." Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Herald 21 April 2007
  • County accused over sexual health screening. Health bosses in Cumbria have been accused of cutting back on sexual health screening to balance their books. According to Public Health Minister Caroline Flint, Cumbria Primary Care Trust (PCT) has not reported data on its Chlamydia screening programme to the Health Protection Agency (HPA). Now the Conservatives have suggested this is because the trust is using part of its sexual health budget to plug its substantial financial deficit. Shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley made the accusations at the House of Commons. He said: "Patricia Hewitt tells us that she will have the NHS back in the black, but she doesn't tell us that in trying to balance the books the Government is raiding public health budgets. This explains why some PCTs in deficit are cutting back on Chlamydia screening. Promoting good public health, like reducing the transmission of sexually transmitted disease, is needed to secure the long-term sustainability of the NHS." Cumbria PCT strongly denied the Tory claims, saying it would be reporting Chlamydia data from August when new programmes are rolled out. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of North West News & Star 22 May 2007
  • Vital cancer screening delayed. Life-saving breast screening tests are being delayed for three out of four women in Greater Manchester. The screening programme is designed to detect early cancer in women aged 50-70, giving them a better chance of survival. But 75% of women in large parts of the region are having to wait longer than the three-year target. Health bosses say one of the reasons for the delays was a shortage of radiographers, which has now been solved. A year ago staff shortages at the Nightingale Clinic, based at Withington Hospital, meant some women were waiting an extra six months for the routine scans. Screening bosses failed to get the programme back on target by Christmas and regional health chiefs have stepped in and say they do not expect to get back on target until April next year. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Manchester Evening News 5 June 2007
  • The moralists have won. Think a 99% success rate would persuade the NHS to prescribe a cervical cancer drug? Think again. Zoe Williams Wednesday June 6, 2007 The Guardian
  • Cervical cancer vaccine for all women could cut cases by half - study. Vaccinating all women against cervical cancer could save hundreds of lives a year in the UK alone, according to the largest study of the vaccine. Care & Health 8 June 2007
  • This is not about sex. A potentially life-saving vaccine against cervical cancer could be offered to all girls in their first year of secondary school. So will people please stop claiming that it's a green light to underage intercourse, says Kira Cochrane. Tuesday June 19, 2007 The Guardian
  • Cervical cancer jab gets backing from medical experts. All girls aged 12 or 13 should be vaccinated against the viruses that cause cervical cancer, government health advisors said today. Routine vaccination of girls against the human papilloma viruses (HPV), which are responsible for about 70% of cervical cancer cases, could begin in autumn 2008 after the Department of Health provisionally backed the experts' recommendation. The department said it accepted the advice from the joint committee for vaccination and immunisation (JCVI), but it would have to weigh up whether the jab was cost effective. Funding for the vaccine, which costs about £250 for three doses over six months, will be considered in the government's comprehensive spending review this summer. Mark Tran and David Batty Wednesday June 20, 2007 Guardian Unlimited
  • Girls could be offered cervical cancer jab by autumn 2008. Schoolgirls across Britain are to be offered a vaccine to protect them against cervical cancer from as early as autumn next year, ministers said yesterday. A national immunisation programme will see the jab made routinely available to girls aged 12 and 13, provided it is approved by an independent cost review, the public health minister Caroline Flint said. Ian Sample, science correspondent Thursday June 21, 2007 The Guardian
  • Gene-screening will be norm in 10 years, says DNA pioneer. Personal DNA sequences will become a routine tool in the diagnosis of diseases within 10 years, according to the father of genetics, James Watson. He said that, as the costs of the sequencing technology tumble, doctors will be able to use the information to plan more effective treatments for conditions including mental illness, cancer, obesity and diabetes. Alok Jha, science correspondent Thursday June 21, 2007 The Guardian

  • 14m could be given heart drug in mass screening for over-40s. Millions of patients are to be offered anti-cholesterol drugs in a mass-medication programme. Everyone aged between 40 and 70 will be screened to see if they would benefit from taking statins. The "wonder drugs" will be offered to those with at least a one in five chance of a heart attack or stroke inside ten years. The plan is expected to be put forward this week by the Government's drugs rationing body, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. Experts predict that 14 million people - half of those screened - will be eligible for the lifelong medication even if they show little or no outward sign of illness. Some doctors are worried about the idea of mass-medicating millions of essentially healthy people. Mail 25 June 2007

  • GPs to screen high-risk patients for heart disease. About 5 million Britons with a high risk of developing heart disease or stroke are to be given advice on how to reduce their cholesterol under draft guidance published by the government's medicines watchdog. GPs will be asked to trawl through their patients' records to identify those most at risk of developing cardiovascular disease and call them in for an assessment, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) proposed today. Those who are found to have a 20% or greater risk of developing heart disease over the next decade should be offered cholesterol-reducing drugs called statins, the draft guidelines recommend. But GPs would first encourage high-risk patients to make lifestyle changes to reduce their cholesterol levels, such as changing their diet, taking regular exercise and stopping smoking. David Batty and agencies Wednesday June 27, 2007 Guardian Unlimited
  • Women called back to clinic have breast cancer. Four women recalled to a breast cancer clinic after concerns emerged over the quality of its screening have been diagnosed with the disease. Inverclyde Royal Hospital in Greenock told 198 patients to return for re-examination last month after the NHS said they had not received the full range of checks. Sunday July 22, 2007 The Observer
  • Nearly half of early breast cancers missed by mammograms, research suggests. Cancer screening programmes are failing to detect nearly half of the earliest cases of breast cancer according to research which suggests women's lives could be saved if all were offered hi-tech MRI scans. The study in the Lancet medical journal found that x-ray based mammograms detect only 56% of early lesions in high risk women compared with 92% when magnetic resonance imaging scans (MRI), more commonly used for brain scans, are used. Nearly all breast cancers begin with non-invasive cancerous cells in the milk ducts, which if detected and quickly treated prevent the disease's progression. Polly Curtis, health correspondent Friday August 10, 2007 The Guardian
  • 40% of heart attacks could be prevented by routine family screening, study finds. Four out of 10 early heart attacks could be prevented if the partners and relatives of people with heart disease were routinely screened, according to a study in the British Medical Journal today. Living with or being related to somebody with heart disease is a significant risk factor for heart attack, according to a study. Siblings are twice as likely as most to suffer, but husbands, wives and partners are also in danger. Blood relatives may have the same genetic triggers for heart disease, but those who share a home probably also share a lifestyle. Smoking, drinking, over-eating and a tendency to watch television rather than go for a jog - all of which may contribute to heart problems - are traits that are likely to run through families. But researchers Clara Chow, from the Greater Glasgow Cardiovascular Research Centre at Glasgow University, and colleagues say it is not routine to screen the families of heart attack victims in the way that the relatives of people with hereditary cancers are offered advice. Sarah Boseley, health editor Friday September 7, 2007 Guardian
  • Screen all babies for high cholesterol, doctors say. Children as young as 15 months should be screened for high cholesterol in an attempt to cut the number of Britons suffering from heart disease, doctors say today. A national screening programme, which would involve a blood test for babies, possibly at the same time as routine vaccinations such as MMR, could help to slash the number of people in the UK with heart disease caused by hereditary high cholesterol, according to the doctors, who publish their work online in the British Medical Journal. Sarah Boseley, health editor Friday September 14, 2007 The Guardian
  • PM promises cleaner hospitals and wider cancer screening. Gordon Brown yesterday promised a deep clean of NHS hospitals, modelled on US experience, as part of a new drive to rid hospitals of MRSA and win back voters and patients disillusioned with the health service. He also promised that the initial findings of Lord Darzi's review of the NHS will be published shortly, promising a more personalised service and longer GP opening hours. But in weekend interviews he remained reluctant to discuss whether he was going to extend choice in the NHS by using the private sector, arguing instead he was intensifying Blairite reforms. Opposition politicians and health union leaders were critical of the latest initiative, saying the root cause of the spread of MRSA was bad daily habits, the intensity of bed occupancy, or the privatisation of the NHS cleaning service. But in his first policy initiative of the annual conference, Mr Brown promised that over the next 12 months all hospitals would be restored to their initial state of cleanliness to rid them of MRSA and C difficile. Mr Brown also announced an extension of screening and early treatment for cancer, moves that are likely to be funded by the comprehensive spending review in a month's time. Patrick Wintour, political editor Monday September 24, 2007 The Guardian
  • STDs 'rising as funds are cut'. Doctors have warned that cases of STDs are rising as screening and treatment services are cut. New figures are expected to show a worrying trend such as the 57% rise in Chlamydia since 2001. The Association of Directors of Public Health said that funds for screening services had been used to bail out NHS debts. They found that £140m had been diverted. Its president, Dr Tim Crayford, said: "When rates of infections are increasing, we are concerned that money intended to tackle the problem has been diverted to solve short-term financial -problems." Paul Ward, from HIV charity the Terrence Higgins Trust, said more money should be spent to prevent and raise awareness of sex diseases as they cost £1bn a year to treat. His charity's research has found that one man in 10 thinks Chlamydia is a kind of flower. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Telegraph 29 October 2007
  • HPV vaccine recommended for NHS immunisation programme. Government immunisation programme to include routine HPV vaccination of girls aged 12 - 13 years. Care & Health 31 October 2007
  • Call for wider vaccination as hepatitis B cases nearly double in UK. The number of people with chronic hepatitis B infection in the UK has nearly doubled in the past five years, leading to calls for widespread vaccination programmes. A report today from the Hepatitis B Foundation says the sharp increase, to 320,000 cases from 180,000 at the last Department of Health estimate in 2002, is linked to increasing migration. Traditionally, hepatitis B levels have been low in the UK, but rising numbers of people are coming to live here from countries where it is endemic. The virus - more infectious than HIV or hepatitis C - can cause death from cirrhosis of the liver or liver cancer. It passes from mother to child and can be transmitted from one child to another through cuts and grazes in the playground. However, government policy is to immunise only at-risk groups - such as injecting drug users, prisoners and those who attend clinics for sexually transmitted infections - in spite of 1991 World Health Organisation recommendations to introduce universal vaccination. Sarah Boseley, health editor The Guardian Wednesday November 21 2007
  • Brown: NHS renewal is biggest priority. Gordon Brown has pledged to make the renewal of the NHS his "highest priority" as he unveiled a new national health screening programme. He said that patients in England would be offered screening for early signs of heart disease, strokes and kidney disease. He also said the NHS needed to step up from universal provision to meeting the personnel needs of individual patients. "Among global healthcare systems, the NHS is uniquely well-placed to deliver a transformation in the relationship between patients and clinicians," he said."It remains one of the most trusted organisations in British society; its doctors, nurses and staff recognised by everyone as a force for good in our country. This is why renewal of the NHS will be our highest priority." In the first national screening programme of its kind in the world, a range of key diagnostic procedures will be available in GP surgeries. As the NHS prepares to celebrate its 60th anniversary this year, Brown said: "We are at the dawn of a whole new era: with growing understanding of individual risk factors, the possibility of anticipating the development of future illness, and perhaps even that of pre-empting such illness with specific advance interventions. The NHS of the future will do more than just treat patients who are ill - it will be an NHS offering prevention as well. The NHS of the future will be more than a universal service - it will be a personal service too." The screening programme will include vascular screening coupled with questions on risk factors, ultrasound for early abdominal aortic aneurism and screening for leading cancers such as colon and breast cancer. The "NHS offer" will be enshrined in the NHS constitution being drawn up by the government. The Conservative shadow health spokesman, Andrew Lansley, said: "There is no proper timetable for delivery; we don't know where the money's coming from, but we do know Brown has raided public health budgets. And the prime minister is pledging things that haven't been recommended by his own advisory group on screening. You'd think the prime minister might have realised from the outcry over recent flawed policies like his 'deep clean' for the NHS that it's time to stop treating the British people like fools and put an end to desperate gimmicks." Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg said: "Prevention is a vital part of effective healthcare, but we need evidence that this is more than just another expensive political gimmick from this government. Gordon Brown is ducking the fundamental issue of overall reform of the health service. No one can argue against a greater focus on prevention but this smacks of tinkering." Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Guardian 7 January 2008
  • PM 'failed to consult doctors' over health screening plan. Gordon Brown was accused of failing to consult doctors and his own health experts over plans announced to introduce a national screening programme for cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and kidney disease. The prime minister set out his vision of an NHS based on prevention rather than cure in a speech rejecting calls for a moratorium on further reform. The British Medical Association complained the government had only a fortnight ago rejected a move for doctors to provide extra screening. Members of the national screening committee, an independent clinical body set up by the government to advise on screening, said it favoured only targeted screening for diabetes and kidney disease. Brown, sometimes accused of backtracking on the often unpopular Blair health reform programme, said it would be a huge failure of leadership to impose a moratorium on reform. He would continue with "deeper and wider reform". From this spring patients in the acute sector would have a choice of 300 hospitals, including more than 150 private sector hospitals. Brown said he will be publishing a patient's prospectus this year, setting out how all 15m patients with a chronic or long-term condition will get a choice of "active patient" or "care at home" options. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Guardian 8 January 2008
  • Screening halves breast cancer deaths says study.   Breast cancer screening has nearly halved the number of deaths from the disease, according to a study of women seen on the NHS published today. The research found that women screened for breast cancer were 48% less likely to die of the disease than women who were not examined. Sarah Boseley, health editor The Guardian, Wednesday January 9 2008
  • The value of NHS screening is not based on sketchy blueprints. Patient monitoring has already proven itself invaluable - and doctors like it too, says Joe Rafferty. Friday January 11, 2008 The Guardian

     

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