Julian supports World Cancer Day with Cancer Research UK
February 12, 2019
Last Wednesday Julian met with campaigners from Cancer Research UK at a special event held in Parliament to mark World Cancer Day, designated to raise awareness of this disease, and the steps we can all take to address it.
He heard about the charity’s research, and discussed what he could do to assist in improving NHS cancer care. Half of people will get cancer in their lifetime, and to tackle the scale of this challenge the government has committed to diagnose 75% of cancer cases in England at stage one or stage two by 2028.
Increasing awareness is so important because an estimated 4 in 10 of English cancer cases could be prevented. Smoking is the biggest preventable cause of cancer, with obesity and being overweight the second biggest.
Shaun Walsh, Head of Public Affairs and Campaigning at Cancer Research UK, said: “A big thank you to Julian for joining us to raise awareness on World Cancer Day.
Parliament has a big part to play in ensuring we work together to beat cancer sooner, and the shared ambition to diagnose more cancers earlier in the years ahead is a welcome one.”
After meeting with Cancer Research UK, Julian said:
“It was important to attend this meeting in view of the huge impact of cancer on families in our city, including my own.
I have previously taken action on this by lobbying the government to lower the screening age for bowel cancer from 60 to 50, raising this with Theresa May at Prime Ministers Questions in the House of Commons in May 2018. I was delighted when Ministers announced they would do this last summer, and I was glad to learn from Cancer Research this week that take up of bowel cancer screening in the Vale of York is already above the national average.
I am also encouraged by the fact that the Vale of York waiting time for radiotherapy treatment for cancer is better than both the national target and the national average, but there is of course lots more to be done to assist patients and families, especially as our population ages. It is welcome that improving cancer care is one of the priorities for the government’s new 10 Year Plan, supported by £20.5 billion a year of new funding. I will remain vigilant to ensure York’s NHS cancer services receive their fair share of this new money.”
