UK cancer death rate could be halved by 2030
pharmafile | January 10, 2014 | News story | Research and Development, Sales and Marketing | Cancer, Taylor, UCL, wardle
British cancer deaths could drop 50% by 2030 if early diagnosis and improved treatment policies are put in place academics have said.
University College of London (UCL) professor Jane Wardle said that lifestyle changes – including eating less red meat and more fibre – better screening and increased symptom awareness were critical in achieving this reduction.
In 2011 nearly 160,000 people died of cancer in the UK – however, that number represents a 20% drop on the mortality rate 20 years ago, according to healthcare charity Cancer Research UK (CRUK).
Speaking at a disease awareness seminar in London, Prof Wardle said the figure could be cut even further but that poor public awareness and uptake of screening for precancerous conditions was still a concern.
She added that people from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds were even less likely to avail of early detection services than their wealthier counterparts, echoing data released last year by CRUK.
“We should be investing a great deal into getting people screened,” she commented, before suggesting that effective screening is cost-effective in the long-term because of the ‘staggeringly high’ price of some new cancer treatments.
Also speaking at the event was pharma industry group the ABPI’s director of Value and Access Paul Catchpole, who discussed the recently agreed Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme (PPRS).
The PPRS ensures that the pharma industry will reimburse the Department of Health should NHS spending on branded medicines exceed set growth rates over the coming five years.
Catchpole indicated that effective reinvestment of this money into the health service would be crucial in the effort to cut cancer deaths.
He said: “The industry would like to see the money reinvested in new, innovative medicines – or other initiatives that could be funded to help remove some of the systemic barriers that are in place in the NHS, in order to make medicines more available.”
Chairing the event, UCL academic and public health policy expert David Taylor said: “In the past the NHS has not performed as well as some other services in facilitating the early detection and treatment of cancers.
“But better approaches to public health improvement and more informed attitudes to talking about and assessing cancer risks and sharing information in ways that do not cause undue anxiety or excessive service demands are opening the way to better outcomes.”
Hugh McCafferty
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