Judi Rhys MBE, Chief Executive of Tenovus Cancer Care, said: Targeted lung health checks piloted by Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board since last autumn have been overwhelmingly successful, according to an evaluation report, published today.
Latest update on lung health checks in Wales
Not only has the pilot had a higher take-up than other similar pilots in the UK, the report reveals, but it has also proven beyond doubt to have saved lives.
During the evaluation period, 547 people who had been smokers aged between 60-74 had their lungs scanned with twelve lung cancers diagnosed.
Almost 67% of those were stage 1 and 2, saving lives and giving each person more time with their loved ones.
The pilot also shows that people from one of Wales’s most deprived areas, including smokers, were not deterred after being invited to have a check by their GP, and it has been popular.
We have arrived at this positive place because of the collective action of clinicians, third sector colleagues and funding partners who universally believe targeted action saves lives, based on hard evidence already out there.
We have been at the forefront of this campaign, and I am personally proud to have been involved from the outset. But there is a still long way to go.
Even with all this evidence and heart-warming success stories, we still do not have a firm commitment from Welsh Government for a national roll out.
Lung cancer is Wales’s most deadly cancer and has one of the worst survival rates with comparable countries world-wide. People living in the most deprived areas of Wales are twice as likely to die from lung cancer within five years of diagnosis compared to people living in the least deprived places. This is shocking.
Wales has fallen woefully short in closing the cancer gap for our deadliest cancer. But the positive news is that lung cancer is curable with a five-year 85% survival rate if caught early at Stage 1.
Today, we call on the Cabinet Secretary for Health, Jeremy Miles, to make his intentions clear and to fully commit to supporting the roll out of targeted lung health checks across Wales.
Once the scoping report becomes public next year, we will want Wales to move at pace towards implementation.
