AQW 46376/22-27

Miss Nuala McAllister
Alliance Party
North Belfast

Tabled Date: 15/05/2026
Answered On Date: 03/06/2026
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Health whether any consideration is being given to rolling out a targeted prostate cancer screening programme for the Black, Asian and minority ethnic community, given increased prevalence.

Answer:

All screening programmes in Northern Ireland are guided by the recommendations provided by the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC), which is an independent committee. It makes recommendations based on high-quality research and evidence to ensure that screening programmes are effective and safe, with the balance of benefits outweighing the harms.

In 2025, the UK NSC made a draft recommendation, which then formed part of a public consultation at the start of this year, to offer a targeted national prostate cancer screening programme to men with a confirmed BRCA gene mutation, every two years, from the ages of 45 to 61 years of age.

The UK NSC also made a draft recommendation not to recommend targeted screening of black men. Prostate cancer is more common in men of black ethnicity compared to white or Asian ethnicity.

The UK NSC is working with the Transform screening research trial to increase the participation of black men, as previous trials did not contain enough participants to adequately show the harms and benefits of screening for these men.

My department will continue to be guided by the UK NSC’s recommendations on proposals for screening programmes.

Anyone with symptoms which they believe may be related to their prostate should contact their GP for advice.