10-year cancer plan warmly welcomed by Teenage Cancer Trust
The Secretary of State, Sajid Javid, today – on World Cancer Day – set out his vision for a new 10-year cancer plan during a speech at The Francis Crick Institute.
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Teenage Cancer Trust welcomes the Secretary of State’s reference to the specific needs of young people with cancer in his speech today and is pleased to see a renewed focus on cancer at a time it has never been more needed.
Too often, young people with cancer are forgotten or overlooked within policy, and are not represented in data collection, making them invisible in the system. This newly announced 10-year cancer plan is the opportunity to begin to address this inequity.
It was heartening to hear recognition from the Secretary of State of the importance of diagnosing young people with cancer earlier, and to hear that this will be an area of particular focus in the 10-year cancer plan.
We know all too well that young people with cancer often struggle to receive a diagnosis early on, due, in part, to low levels of awareness for the common signs and symptoms of cancer for this cohort. We hope to see concrete plans to address this front and centre in the new plan.
When NHS England launched the NHS Long Term Plan in 2019, we welcomed commitments on children and young people with cancer, improving outcomes, experience and care for children and young people with cancer, particularly around specialist psychological support and access to clinical trials. We look forward to the detail of this new plan on how these commitments will be taken forward.
It was great to hear specific reference from the Secretary of State to the trailblazing leadership of the UK in being the first to deliver specialist age-appropriate care for young people with cancer, which Teenage Cancer Trust pioneered over thirty years ago. Teenage Cancer Trust remains as ambitious as ever, to ensure young people with cancer have the best support, experiences and outcomes as possible. We hope to work with the Department of Health and Social Care, and NHS England, to ensure this plan commits to, implements, and achieves, ambitious improvements to care, support and outcomes for teenagers and young adults with cancer.