Day 030 - 03 Oct 94 - Page 63


     
     1        to be diet related in the sense we have already defined.
     2        The point being made here is we are not talking about
     3        cancers that are trivial causes of death.
     4
     5   Q.   We are talking about affecting very large numbers of
     6        people?
     7        A.  Correct.
     8
     9   Q.   If we can leave that and go on to the last reference
    10        document which is Science News, March 1994?
    11        A.  This is a quarterly sheet that is produced by my own
    12        organisation the World Cancer Research Fund for health
    13        professionals.  It goes out to about 10,000 health
    14        professionals and opinion formers in the UK. The purpose
    15        of it is just to set out in ordinary language what the
    16        latest state of play is in the field of diet and cancer.
    17
    18        The reason this document is relevant is that it simply,
    19        hopefully, is an accessible summary of the situation now
    20        in Scotland.  I have already mentioned earlier today a
    21        Scottish report that came out I think in 1990 which is,
    22        therefore, in my book.  This is the situation in Scotland
    23        now.  The striking thing about the Scottish report is
    24        that, rather like COMA reports when they are endorsed by
    25        government, this particular report contains within its own
    26        covers an endorsement by the Scottish Secretary State, Ian
    27        Laing, who says in 1994: "Just as a good diet helps keep
    28        us fit and healthy, so a poor diet can contribute to
    29        coronary heart disease, cancer, dental decay and many
    30        other illnesses".
    31
    32   Q.   That is on right-hand side, midway down that column in the
    33        first article.
    34        A.  One question here is:  Why Scotland and not the UK?
    35        Well, happily, one might say there is a fair amount of
    36        devolution of responsibility nowadays in the UK.  The
    37        other reason is that it is generally accepted that the
    38        average diet in Scotland is worse, in some respects much
    39        worse in certain parts of Scotland, than the average diet
    40        outside of Scotland; certainly the average diet outside of
    41        Scotland and Northern Ireland.  Therefore, the rates of
    42        suffering and death, premature death, from diet related
    43        diseases is even higher in Scotland than it is elsewhere
    44        in the UK.
    45
    46   MR. MORRIS:  Could we take a five-minute break now?
    47
    48   MR. MORRIS:  What we would like to do at this stage, we are not
    49        sure if we have any further questions because of some of
    50        the confusion over the documents.  May it be appropriate 
    51        to stop the evidence-in-chief now and leave ourselves the 
    52        option of coming back with three or four more questions 
    53        when Mr. Cannon comes back?
    54
    55   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I think you should try to finish everything
    56        which occurs to you now.  If Mr. Cannon has to come back
    57        later anyway, and if Mr. Rampton chooses not to start his
    58        cross-examination this afternoon, then you obviously can
    59        ask anything further which occurs to you.  It may be that
    60        if you have effectively reached the end of your

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