Calls for prostate cancer screening programme across Wales
Last year, the National Screening Committee opened a public consultation following its draft decision to advise government against screening for all men
As the UK Government is expected to make a final decision on a screening programme for prostate cancer this month, the charity Prostate Cymru is calling for men to be routinely tested.
Last year, the National Screening Committee (NSC) opened a public consultation following its draft decision to advise government against screening for all men.
Around one in eight men get prostate cancer:
It is anticipated that the Government will discuss the NSC’s final recommendations in the next week or so.
Prostate Cymru Chair Andy Thomas – a retired consultant urological surgeon – says:
“Early diagnosis is key. In Wales, the impact of prostate cancer is significant, affecting 1 in 8 men, and 1 in 3 with a family history. Often, it doesn’t present with any symptoms so it is essential that men get tested.
“Currently, you only get tested if you request it – or if you have a proactive GP that recommends it. But we constantly hear of men who have difficulties in getting a GP appointment, and in some cases even being refused a test. And what about the men who don’t think to ask for a test? We need a screening programme.”
"I feel I missed out on six or seven years - in which time, my cancer was growing.”
59 year-old Dean Hopkins from Swansea is backing the calls for nationwide screening.
Dean was first tested by his GP in 2017, and was encouraged to come back in three years to be tested again. But then Covid hit and Dean gave up trying to get an appointment.
He went along to a PSA test event and has since been diagnosed with stage three cancer.
Dean says men should be routinely invited to be tested:
“We need a national screening programme because it was just luck that I saw an advert for the Prostate Cymru event. This can’t just come down to luck or whether you have a GP that takes it seriously. We all need to be screened.
“If I’d been tested in 2020, this would have been caught earlier.
"I feel I missed out on six or seven years - in which time, my cancer was growing.”
In response to these calls, the newly formed Welsh Government said:
“The UK National Screening Committee is reviewing the evidence for prostate cancer screening and we will consider the committee’s advice when its final recommendations are available."
“Anyone with symptoms of - or worried about - prostate cancer should speak to their GP”