The Department of Health and Social Care, issued a press release on World Cancer Day - 4th February 2022.
The Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid, announced he was to launch a new 10-year ‘national war on cancer’ and a call for evidence to underpin an ambitious 10-Year Cancer Plan for England.
The full copy of the press release is available here, with some key notes provided below.
Key points from the Health Secretary included:
- A new call for evidence to inform an ambitious 10-Year Cancer Plan to make the country’s cancer care system the ‘best in Europe’
- As the NHS tackles the COVID-19 backlog, renewed focus will be placed on innovative cancer treatment and early diagnosis as part of a national war on cancer
- Cancer remains the biggest cause of death from disease in the UK and the COVID-19 pandemic has had a serious effect on care and services, with people not coming forward for checks.
The Health Secretary said: "we have published the call for evidence for a new 10 Year Cancer Plan for England, a searching new vision for how we will lead the world in cancer care.This Plan will show how we are learning the lessons from the pandemic, and apply them to improving cancer services over the next decade. It will take a far-reaching look at how we want cancer care to be in 2032 – ten years from now. Looking at all stages, from prevention, to diagnosis, to treatment and vaccines".
He will set out his determination to go further, building on the progress of the NHS Long Term Plan with a set of new and strengthened priorities.
Today’s new call for evidence is seeking input from cancer patients, relatives and NHS staff to gain the deepest understanding of the issue possible and provide the best future for the country’s cancer care. The easiest way to participate is by visiting www.gov.uk/dhsc or going to the call for evidence page here.
The call for evidence will run for 8 weeks, after which the government will factor in responses into its new 10-Year Cancer Plan which is expected to be set out in summer.
Participants can respond to the call for evidence as an individual, or on behalf of an organisation. It closes at 11:45pm on 1 April 2022.
The Health and Social Care Secretary’s speech is available to view via video link on the DHSC and Cancer Alliances twitter channels.
Full details about the 10-year cancer plan and call for evidence, are available here.