Ivana Bacik
Question:705. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Health his plans to introduce a national lung cancer screening programme. [42834/23]
View answerTuesday, 3 October 2023
Questions (705)
Written answers
As Minister for Health, I am fully committed to supporting our population screening programmes which are a valuable part of our health service, enabling early treatment and care for many people, and improving the overall health of our population.
Any decisions about further changes or expansion of cancer screening, including the introduction of a lung cancer screening programme, will be made on the advice of the National Screening Advisory Committee (NSAC). This independent expert group considers and assesses evidence in a robust and transparent manner, and against internationally accepted criteria. It is important we have rigorous processes in place to ensure our screening programmes are effective, quality assured and operating to safe standards, and that the benefits of screening outweigh the harms.
I would stress to the Deputy that careful consideration must be given to any proposed expansion of Ireland’s screening programmes and that this process must be afforded the necessary amount of time to complete. In this regard, I am pleased to report that the Committee is already progressing work on the further expansion of our current cancer screening programmes. However, this expansion is currently focused on the age range eligibility for the BowelScreen and BreastCheck programmes.
Under Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan, an updated European Council Recommendation on cancer screening was published in December 2022. This recommends extended screening for colorectal (bowel) cancer and breast cancer, along with other recommendations in relation to cervical, lung, prostate and gastric cancer screening. The NSAC will consider this Recommendation and advise myself and my Department on the evidence as it applies to Ireland.
Any advice received specifically in terms of the Recommendation on lung cancer will help to inform priorities for the national population screening programme in Ireland going forward.