Cancer survival rates in UK will be the best in Europe, Sajid Javid pledges
CANCER survival rates in Britain will be the best in Europe after Health Secretary Sajid Javid declared war on the disease.
He revealed details today of a radical ten-year plan to speed up detection and boost outcomes.
Ministers want to harness scientific advances, such as artificial intelligence and mRNA vaccines.
Half of all Brits will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime.
But despite improvements in survival over recent decades, experts fear progress has stalled because of the pandemic.
It comes as the NHS faces a mammoth backlog of cases, with nearly 50,000 fewer referrals than expected since the Covid crisis.
Worried Brits will be able to get on-the-spot cancer checks at shopping centres and football clubs under radical plans to boost early detection, the Health Secretary said this afternoon.
Mr Javid admitted he “knows all too well the grief and the heartbreak” the disease can bring, after his own dad’s colon cancer was picked up too late.
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In a moving speech at the Francis Crick Institute to mark World Cancer Day, the Health Secretary said: “Who knows, if he'd been diagnosed a bit earlier he may still be with us today.
“This painful experience also impressed upon me that when it comes to cancer, there isn't a moment to spare.”
Mr Javid has now pledged to go further than the NHS target of spotting three in four cases early, as part of his ten-year blitz on cancer.
Every 90 seconds a Brits is diagnosed with the disease – with survival chances much higher the earlier it is picked up.
He said his three daughters had been vaccinated against cervical cancer, along with 80 million people worldwide, and that the HPV jab could help eradicate the cancer "in my lifetime".
"Although it might be someway on the horizon, there is also the potential, I think, to develop vaccines for other forms of cancer too," he said.
But he admitted it would be "difficult" as he pressed for research to be advanced in applying mNRA vaccine research to forms of cancer.
The 24-minute speech also saw Mr Javid lay out plans to tackle inequalities in healthcare across the country and abolish disparities in diagnosis times.
Mr Javid added: “Let this be the day where we declare a national war on cancer.
“We have published the call for evidence for a new ten-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.
“It will take a far-reaching look at how we want cancer care to be ten years from now, looking at all stages, from prevention, to diagnosis, to treatment and vaccines.”
BEATING CANCER BACK
Hiring more cancer doctors and nurses is a key plank of the strategy.
The 24-minute speech also saw Mr Javid lay out plans to tackle inequalities in healthcare across the country and abolish disparities in diagnosis times.
He said the call for evidence will be used to inform a final strategy expected later this year, which ministers hope will make England's cancer care system "the best in Europe".
Launching on Friday and running for eight weeks, it is open to the public and seeks input from cancer patients, their relatives and NHS workers.
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Britain has one of the worst survival rates in western Europe.
It comes after there were 50,000 fewer cancer diagnoses across the UK since the start of the pandemic, risking an increase in advanced cases which are harder to treat.
