Alarm has been raised after a leading cancer specialist warned that if there is not a dramatic change in the number of people who smoke and are obese the NHS may have to start discriminating about the treatment it provides.
Professor John Smythe, Professor of Medical Oncology at the University of Edinburgh said in a speech at the Edinburgh International Science Festival that doctors would soon need to make tough decisions about the types of drugs, treatments and screenings made available when faced with what he called ‘relentless’ pressure from public expectation and limited funding. Highlighting the moral dilemma facing the medical world over issues such as obesity, smoking and drugs, he argued that such factors needed to be taken into consideration when a patient came forward seeking medical treatment. He warned that the problem ‘can no longer be ignored. Fast forward five years and this problem is only going to get worse.”
Currently, it is estimated that 13,000 people a year could avoid cancer were their body weight lower, making obesity the second most common cause of cancer after tobacco. Cigarettes are believed to be responsible for around 90% of all cases of lung cancer, as well as being strongly associated with other illnesses such as pancreatic cancer and heart disease. Experts have already warned that rising levels of obesity may cause such an increase in costs to the NHS that the system may be entirely crippled within 25 years.
Professor Smythe warned that though medical advances were continuing and public expectation of available treatments was high, the current economic climate, an aging population and decreasing numbers of tax-payers meant that the government was unable to provide some potential treatments. His words resonated with recent cases of cancer-sufferers forced to pay privately for expensive cancer drugs not offered by some primary health care trusts, which have received large amounts of media attention.
Recently, the Scottish NHS u-turned on the issue of patients paying for some drugs not offered by the NHS without meeting the entire cost of their treatment; a move some fear will lead to a two-tier ‘top-up’ system. Professor Smythe’s words seem to suggest that some medical quarters believe this ‘topping-up’ could become unavoidable for those whose lifestyles are believed to have contributed to their illness. A Scottish government spokesman refused to be drawn into the debate, saying, “We welcome all contributions to the debate about shaping our future healthcare system.”