North West urged to back cancer plan that could help prevent deaths in Wigan
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This comes ahead of the next general election and the charity has published an ambitious plan, which if adopted, it says could help to avoid 20,000 deaths across the UK by 2040.
For the North West, this could be an estimated 2,300 fewer people losing their lives to the disease each year.
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Hide AdDeveloped with insight from both cancer patients and experts, Longer better lives: a manifesto for cancer research and care outlines five key missions to speed up progress in preventing, diagnosing, and treating cancer. The charity has said that huge strides forward have been made in battling the disease – as survival rates have doubled in the last 50 years.
Despite the progress made in treatment, it has warned that the NHS services is in crisis and with half a million cases a year projected by 2040 – 58,000 of which could be in the North West. As a result there is a risk that the progress could stall.
The UK still lags behind comparable countries when it comes to cancer survival, the charity said, and called on all political parties to make cancer a top priority in their party manifestos. Whoever assumes office following the election must commit to developing a 10-year cancer plan and urgent action is required to address more than £1bn funding gap for research into the illness.
To tackle these complex challenges head on, the charity recommended that a nation-wide movement on cancer, spearheaded by a National Cancer Council accountable to the Prime Minister, which brings government, the life sciences sector, charities and scientific experts together, is established. Measures to end cancers caused by smoking has also been called for, by improving early detection of cancer through initiatives such as lung screening programmes.
As part of the drive to make the next general election a turning point for people affected by cancer, Cancer Research UK has also enlisted the support of the public. Supporters are being urged to sign an open letter to party leaders at cruk.org/letter.
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Hide AdCancer Research UK spokesperson for the North West, Jemma Humphreys, said: “We've made huge progress in beating cancer over the last 50 years - but it remains the defining health issue of our time. Cases are rising and we estimate that half a million people will be diagnosed with cancer in the UK every year by 2040. People continue to face unacceptable delays to diagnosis and treatment and the UK lags behind comparable countries when it comes to cancer survival.
“The public expect and deserve action. We calculate that the recommendations made within our Manifesto for Cancer Research and Care, will reduce cancer mortality by 15% by 2040 - helping avoid 20,000 cancer deaths in the UK every year. But only if we act now. I urge everyone to support the manifesto and sign our open letter to party leaders. The prize is a legacy of life-saving cancer research and care that will benefit the UK for decades to come.”
The manifesto has garnered celebrity support from broadcaster Nick Grimshaw, who was motivated to get involved by the loss of his father to bladder cancer in 2016. He appears alongside Ted Lasso star, Nick Mohammed, as well as cancer survivors and researchers in a powerful short film rallying people to the cause.
Nick said: “We must turn the tide on cancer because the problem is growing. The fact that half a million people in the UK could be diagnosed with the disease by 2040 is an alarming statistic and one that will send shockwaves through so many families like mine.