Justin Wallace

Together with Stephen Fry, Colin McFarlane, David Cameron, Steve McQueen, Jeremy Clarkson and Nick Jones, I’ve written to the Health Secretary about prostate cancer. Prostate cancer is now the most common cancer among men in Britain. It kills one man every 45 minutes, many after a diagnosis too late for treatment to succeed. Black men face a 1 in 4 lifetime risk, double that of the general population, and men whose fathers or brothers have had the disease face a similar threat. In May the National Screening Committee refused to extend screening beyond a group of just 1,500 men with one specific genetic variant. Everyone else at high risk doesn't have guaranteed access to a test that could save their life. We believe that's wrong, and that the Secretary of State has both the evidence and the power to overturn the ruling. More than 250 MPs from across the political spectrum have called for a targeted national screening programme, and over 100,000 people have signed petition demanding the same. A programme targeted at those at highest risk would cost £25 million a year, which is 0.01% of the NHS budget. We are asking the Secretary of State to reconsider the Committee's recommendation and commit to a targeted national screening programme; to act now, rather than wait a decade for further trial data while men continue to die; and to ensure that risk, not luck, decides who is tested.