A man suffering terminal prostate cancer claims men are dying because of sexual discrimination within the NHS.

Malcolm Nisbet, of Islip Road, Oxford, is angry men are not routinely screened for the disease, which can lie undetected for years.

Mr Nisbet, 58, has set up the Oxford Prostate Action Group (OPAG) to raise the profile of prostate cancer and make people aware that, unlike cervical and breast cancer in women, there is no NHS screening programme for men.

He said: "I have discovered a hidden battle of the sexes as well as a loophole in NHS general practice service in Oxford, which means men are dying unnecessarily.

"If a simple diagnostic routine had been part of my normal GP check-up, this disease would have been caught in time and I would not be fighting a battle for my life now."

The UK has the highest rate of prostate cancer in Europe, with 10,000 deaths annually. Last year, the Department of Health spent £147,000 in the fight against prostate cancer compared with £4.2m on breast cancer.

Although the Government has now agreed to spend £4m on the disease over the next three years and promote male patients' rights to ask their GP to test them for prostate cancer, Mr Nisbet believes men should be screened automatically.

Urologist Simon Brewster, a surgeon at the Churchill Hospital in Headington, said he had sympathy for Mr Nisbet's situation and understood his anger.

He said: "However, unlike breast and cervical cancers in women, there is no proof as yet that screening the middle-aged male population for prostate cancer would be beneficial in terms of lives saved and improvements in quality of life."