Foreword from the Secretary of State
This country’s fight against COVID-19 has shown just what we can do when we join forces against a common threat.
During the pandemic we used this country’s ingenuity and endeavour to put the virus on the back foot, but now is the time to apply this same spirit and determination to another threat: cancer.
It is time to declare a national war on cancer, which is the biggest cause of death from disease in this country. It is a menace that has taken far too many people before their time and caused grief and suffering on a massive scale.
As a country, we have made great progress in recent years; in just the last 15 years, one-year survival has increased by more than 10 percentage points, a remarkable achievement. But despite this progress, I am determined that we will go much further. This is essential if we are to complete the job of recovering cancer services following the pandemic and use the impressive advances in diagnosis and treatments to radically improve outcomes for cancer patients across the UK.
This call for evidence marks the start of our 10-Year Cancer Plan, a new vision for how we will lead the world in cancer care. We will be taking a long-term look at how we harness innovation and what we want the patient experience to look like in 2032, with ambitious plans for action in several different areas.
We will be drawing on the latest technologies and the smartest possible use of data. The NHS Galleri trial has given us a glimpse into how technology can transform the way that cancer is detected. As part of this plan, I want us to pursue every possible opportunity to partner with this country’s tech pioneers, who had such a decisive impact during the pandemic, so we can harness and deploy the technologies that offer so much hope.
This also includes improving the number of people who are diagnosed at an early stage, boosting the cancer workforce, intensifying research on mRNA vaccines for cancer and delivering more personalised care both before and after treatment. If we get this right, not only will we save lives, but we reduce the impact that cancer has on the NHS, by tackling it earlier on.
As we do this, I will be relentlessly focused on tackling disparities in cancer outcomes, which need addressing with urgency if we’re to succeed in our mission to level up this country.
Currently, if you are from a more deprived area, there is a greater chance that you will have poorer outcomes. We cannot allow these injustices to stand and I am determined to put this right as we put this plan into action.
Cancer is a disease that has cast a shadow over so many. One out of every two of us will have cancer at some point in our lives, and many more will have to support someone close to them who has it. This means we want to hear views from far and wide, including cancer patients, their loved ones, and those working in cancer care.
Please help us shape this long-term vision and join this new national effort, as we strive to diminish this blight on this nation’s health and happiness.
Read the full report here!
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