Government are to increase Cancer Awareness funding

The government announced this week that they are pledging £9 million in funding to raise awareness of cancer in the UK.

The campaigns due to begin in January 2011 are aimed at alerting people on the early signs of bowel, breast and lung cancer, which could save up to 10,000 lives a year.

Each year in the UK, more than 120,000 people are affected with bowel, breast and lung cancer, but survival rates can be increased if the diseases are caught in the early stages.

Estimates have shown that 10,000 lives could be saved in England each year if survival rates matched the best in Europe.

Health Minister Paul Burstow, said, “The £9m would be available from January for local campaigns aimed at encouraging people to visit their doctor if they have concerns.”

A total of 59 campaigns will focus on breast, bowel and lung cancer, or any combination of the three, depending on the region and target audience. Prior to the campaign launch, two pilot studies will be set up for bowel cancer to see if a national awareness campaign would be successful. To ensure the campaigns reach the desired target audience, local campaigns will use social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook to get the message across. Previous successful local campaign initiatives such as a bus that made a coughing noise in Doncaster could be repeated elsewhere.

The coughing bus campaign that ran in Doncaster led to an increase in the number of people who visited their GP for an X-ray to detect lung cancer. The number of cases diagnosed in one month also rose by almost 60% (from 32 to 45) compared with the same month in the previous year. 

Early diagnosis of cancer can be critical as previous data shows with more than 90% of people with bowel cancer living at least five years if they are diagnosed in the early stage compared with 6.6% in the late stage.

Current statistics show that around one in 20 people will get cancer at some point in their life, with more than 38,000 new cases in the UK in 2007 and more than 16,000 deaths. 

Furthermore, approximately half of the people survive for five years and about 44% live at least 10 years following diagnosis. 

Each year around 46,000 cases of breast cancer are diagnosed in the UK, with more than 12,000 deaths. Some 82% of the sufferers will be alive after five years and 73% are alive after a decade.

Currently lung cancer affects around 40,000 people each year and kills more than 35,000. The five-year survival rates are 7% in men, 9% in women and dropping to around 5% a decade after diagnosis. 

Mr Burstow said, “The government’s aim was to saves lives and achieve cancer survival rates that were among the best in the world. In England we are lagging behind European countries when it comes to the common, but big killer cancers such as breast, bowel and lung. The NHS is spending at European levels, but still not delivering European cancer survival rates.” 

“We know that generally the earlier the cancer is diagnosed, the better the outlook. That’s why our campaign will help people to be more alert to the early signs and symptoms of cancer and encourage them to seek medical advice as soon as possible.”

Deborah Alsina, chief executive of Bowel Cancer UK said, “Bowel cancer is the UK’s second biggest cancer killer, yet it is highly treatable if diagnosed early. By increasing awareness of the disease and encouraging people to act on their symptoms, these regional and national campaigns have the potential to save thousands of lives.”

With the government’s promise to increase funding on cancer awareness, GPs and GP locums are likely to see more patients coming through their door for diagnosis. In terms of patient care, this can only be a good thing with early diagnosis leading to an increased survival rate in patients. Furthermore, as the government’s initiative is aimed at increasing diagnosis, it is essential to have medical professionals on board who can deliver to the government’s campaign.  

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