Funding plea after record cancer deaths in Scotland

●Figures show 16,100 people died last year – the highest since records began

Scotland saw 16,100 people die from cancer last year, the largest number since records began in 1992.

Ministers were urged to employ more NHS staff to treat the disease following the publication of the figure, which saw the number of deaths increase by 292 since the previous year.

Cancer charities made the plea as opposition politicians demanded action to tackle “scandalous” waiting times for treatment.

The data also revealed that people living in deprived areas are more likely to get the disease and die from it.

The rise in cases was attributed to people living longer and the fact that cancer is a relatively common disease amongst the elderly.

Despite the increasing numbers of cancer-sufferers, the figures released bythenhsinformationservicesdivision disclosed that mortality rates for all cancers in Scotland had decreased by 10 per cent in the last decade.

But yesterday’s publication, Cancer Mortality in Scotland (2017), also identified wide variation in cancer incidence rates and mortality rates between the most deprived communities and their more affluent counterparts.

For all cancers combined, the most

Breastfeeding rates in Scotland “remain low” compared to other countries, a new report has found.

NHS statistics on infants born in 2017-18 showed by the time babies are given their six to eight week check up, 28 per cent had been exclusively breast fed since birth.

Health visitors working with new parents recorded just over half (51 per cent) of babies were being given breast milk at their first check up at ten to 14 days – up from 44 per cent in 2001-02.

Just over a third (36 per cent) of youngsters were fed only breast milk at this stage, with 15 per cent being given both this and formula. But by six to eight weeks old, the proportion being breastfed fell to 42 per cent with 11 per cent receiving both breast and formula milk and 31 per cent exclusively breast fed.