Winchester and Chandler’s Ford MP – Steve Brine - has stressed the importance of prevention in tackling future and current crises in the NHS, in an affordable and sustainable way.
During a debate on the repeal of Health and Social Care Levy Bill, Steve gave an impassioned speech on a number of areas he worked on in his role as Public Health Minister, between 2017 and 2019.
The MP highlighted five of the biggest killers in the UK; obesity, cancer, diabetes and, stroke, saying; “If the Government let ideology get in the way of facing down those challenges, future generations—and Governments, whether Conservative or Labour—will pay the price.”
Raising concerns on the country’s obesity problem, Mr Brine raised rumours within the media and Government that the sugar tax, which he worked on in his role as Minster, is “for the bin”. On current levels NHS costs attributed to being overweight and obesity are projected to reach £9.7 billion by 2050.
He continued; “If we do not tackle the obesity challenge, it will have not only a big financial impact on the NHS, which we are talking about how to fund, but a big social impact.”
When it comes to cancer around four in 10 cancers today are preventable, with one of the biggest causes, smoking, causing at least 15 different types of cancer. Earlier this year Steve Brine brough a Ten Minute Rule Bill to the House of Commons on early cancer diagnosis, specifically breast cancer, adding to his remarks then saying; “Breast Cancer Now tells me that it thinks that there are 12,000 undiagnosed breast cancers in this country today.
“You do not need to be a genius, a former Health Minister or a breast surgeon to understand what that could mean: undiagnosed breast cancers move beyond stage 1, into 2 and 3, when they often become untreatable. That is what happened to my mother, and I do not want it to happen to others. If the nanny state means implementing “Be Clear on Cancer” campaigns to help people avoid cancer, I am a nanny state-ist.”
A key thread in the Winchester MP’s speech was prevention being not only a viable medical solution, but a financial one by ensuring late treatment is avoided and money is saved further down the road. Few areas are more obvious of this, than diabetes, with the NHS spending about £10 billion a year—that was about 10% of its budget, when Steve Brine was in the Department—on diabetes care.
The biggest killer in this country is no different, with stroke costing the country billions every year and Steve Brine heard of the severe effects it has on those who survive during a recent visit to Say Aphasia in Winchester. The MP pleaded with frontbench saying; “Why would we not want to help the NHS prevent stroke through a proper salt reduction strategy?”
Concluding his remarks saying; “I believe those do recognise we need to have the courage to act on these issues. That will mean doing unpopular things, but sometimes we have to do unpopular things to do the right things, and that means preventing some of the major killers and some of the major causes of ill health that I have mentioned. If we do not do that, the NHS will become unsustainable.”
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