Asked by: Baroness Coussins (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what support they are giving to the campaign by Public Health England and various cancer charities to raise awareness of bladder cancer.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
The “Blood in Pee” campaign focuses on early symptoms of bladder and kidney cancer. The campaign has run twice at a national level from 15 October to 20 November 2013 and 13 October to 23 November 2014, following successful local and regional pilots and will be re-running from 15 February to 31 March 2016. The campaign will use a wide range of media, including national television and radio advertising, to promote the key message “If you notice blood in your pee, even if it’s just the once, tell your doctor”.
Public Health England (PHE) works closely with the Department and NHS England to ensure that health care professionals are also targeted with campaign information to encourage earlier diagnoses and referrals. PHE also works closely with the devolved administrations to ensure consistency of messages on their own campaigns and initiatives.
The Department notifies key stakeholders including charities about forthcoming campaigns and has engaged with relevant charities to review the campaign leaflet and source case studies for the bladder and kidney campaign. A copy of the leaflet has been attached
Information for the general public will be available on NHS Choices. This is an online only resource.
Asked by: Baroness Coussins (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the BCG vaccine treatment of bladder cancer.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
We have made no such assessment.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body responsible for providing best practice guidance for the National Health Service.
NICE published a clinical guideline in February 2015 on the diagnosis and management of bladder cancer which outlines the circumstances in which the Bacille Calmette‑Guérin (BCG) vaccine should be used to treat bladder cancer. A copy of the clinical guideline is attached.
A bladder cancer quality standard was also published by NICE in December 2015 which refers to BCG treatment for bladder cancer. A copy of the quality standard is attached.