£12m to upgrade cancer technology

Sep 2 2012

The Scottish Government will spend £12 million over the next three years on upgrading equipment used to screen for breast cancer.

The money is part of the Government's £30 million programme to increase the early detection of cancer.

The funding will be spent across the NHS to replace analogue mammography machines with digital units which use more advanced technology.

Breast screening in Scotland is available at six centres and 19 mobile units, and currently all but one of the machines are analogue.

The funding announcement comes ahead of the launch of the Government's breast cancer advertising drive this week.

Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said: "More and more people are living with and beating cancer, and our breast screening programme is a vital part of that.

"We know that treatment is most successful when cancer is found early and that is why being screened is absolutely vital for women over 50. This funding will benefit women across Scotland by using more advanced technology for the detection of cancer."

In Scotland, almost 4,500 women are diagnosed with breast cancer each year while 1,000 women die from the disease annually, according to Cancer Research UK.

The Government's Detect Cancer Early programme, announced in spring 2011, aims to increase early detection by 25%.

It is focused on breast, bowel and lung cancer in a bid to save 300 lives each year.