Today the First Minister and Chief Medical Officer announced the temporary suspension of the National Screening Programmes, including: breast, bowel and cervical cancers with immediate effect.
This decision was announced during the daily Scottish Government Press conference in response to COVID-19 and has been taken in response to clinical advice from the Chief Medical officer.
Commenting on the announcement, CEO, Rob Murray said: “We fully understand how difficult today’s decision by the Chief Medical Officer will be for people across Scotland. We would encourage anyone who is worried or who may have symptoms of any of the conditions such as Breast, Bowel or Cervical cancer to seek medical advice by calling their GP in the first instance.
This will be an extremely worrying time already for people affected by cancer and this announcement will further increase anxiety for them, their friends and their family. This is why, as Scotland’s cancer charity we are determined to ensure their wellbeing will be supported.
We will to do this through a range of self-help guides available now on our website and through telephone and digital support. Whilst we would normally wrap our arms around them during these challenging times, we are on hand with a virtual hug for now.”
To access our free wellbeing self-help please click here.
Further information on the screen programmes paused as well as the symptoms of related conditions can be found by clicking here.