Craig Meighan

Scotland’s public health minister Maree Todd urged the UK National Screening Committee to review the starting age for bowel cancer screening, citing rising colorectal cancer rates among Scots under 50. She said Scotland would launch its own pilot if the committee declines. Public Health Scotland data showed a significant increase in cases between 2013 and 2023. The UK Government said its screening programmes are regularly reviewed and noted that England recently expanded screening to ages 50–74 and introduced a more sensitive test expected to improve early detection.