Former prime minister Rishi Sunak has condemned Labour’s handling of prostate cancer screening after health officials rejected calls for a wider national testing programme despite mounting evidence that earlier detection saves lives.
In a statement on X, Sunak said the decision would be “hugely disappointing” for campaigners and grieving families, arguing ministers had ignored major advances in screening technology and modern treatment.
“For just 0.01% of the NHS budget, we could’ve had a targeted screening programme that would have saved lives,” he said.
The intervention came after the UK National Screening Committee (UKNSC) recommended against introducing broader prostate cancer screening across the NHS, limiting routine checks to a narrow group of men carrying the BRCA2 genetic mutation. The committee ruled that wider PSA testing could still lead to overdiagnosis and unnecessary treatment.
The decision has sparked fury among campaigners, charities and senior political figures, with critics warning Labour risks condemning thousands of men to avoidable deaths through inertia and excessive bureaucracy.
According to reporting in The Telegraph, campaigners warned the restrictions “will condemn thousands to early death” by denying earlier diagnosis to men most at risk.
The controversy is particularly acute because black men, who are twice as likely to die from prostate cancer, were excluded from the proposed screening expansion, alongside many men with strong family histories of the disease.
Critics argue Labour ministers are hiding behind outdated modelling and overly cautious NHS processes despite evidence that MRI-led diagnosis and modern screening pathways have dramatically improved accuracy while reducing unnecessary treatment. An independent review commissioned earlier this year found “structural flaws” in the economic model used to justify blocking a national screening programme, including reliance on outdated assumptions and failure to account for modern diagnostic advances.
Prostate cancer is now the most commonly diagnosed cancer among men in Britain, with more than 64,000 cases and around 12,000 deaths every year. Yet it remains one of the only major cancers without a national screening programme.
Campaigners say the Government’s refusal to move faster stands in stark contrast to the growing body of international evidence supporting targeted testing for high-risk groups. Research presented earlier this year found prostate cancer screening can be as effective as breast cancer screening in reducing deaths when modern diagnostic methods are used.
The row has intensified pressure on Labour’s handling of the NHS more broadly, with opponents accusing ministers of dithering over life-saving reforms while simultaneously becoming embroiled in separate transparency controversies surrounding attempts to withhold communications linked to Lord Mandelson. Critics say the prostate cancer decision reflects a wider culture of political caution and bureaucratic defensiveness inside government.
High-profile supporters of expanded screening, including Sir Chris Hoy, Stephen Fry and former prime minister David Cameron, have all urged ministers to reconsider. Sir Chris recently launched a major screening initiative in Scotland after revealing his own terminal diagnosis, warning that early detection “could save your life”.
Sunak said Britain must “take this opportunity to save lives, reduce inequalities and bring prostate cancer screening into line with how the disease is diagnosed and treated today”.
For many campaigners, Labour’s response so far has fallen woefully short.
