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Fight against cancer must undergo a 'fundamental reset', leading doctors warn as they unveil 10-point plan to improve care in the UK
A group of senior clinical cancer specialists are calling for the development of radical cancer control plans to make the system 'fit for the future'.
They estimate there will be up to 2,000 extra cancer cases per week by 2040 but warned the UK was already failing to keep pace with other countries.
Writing in the Lancet Oncology, they said the UK's poor performance compared to other countries shows that our approach to cancer care contradicts international consensus and is 'not working'.
With all UK nations in the bottom half of cancer league tables, they team argued a fundamental reset is needed to reverse the problem.
The paper outlines a 10-point plan to improve cancer care and calls for the creation of a UK-wide National Cancer Control Plan, along with a prevention programme for smoking, obesity and alcohol consumption.
This includes establishing a National Cancer Research Institute to broaden cancer research and delivering on the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan to boost staff levels.
They said delivery of the main 62-day treatment target is vital to ensure patients are given care in a timely manner and urged integration of hospice care into the NHS.
Pat Price, visiting professor at Imperial College London and joint senior author, said cancer care is 'fast becoming a monumental crisis' with 'no realistic plan'.
She added: 'A cancer plan is not just a strategy, it is a lifeline for the one in two of us that will get cancer. Cancer patients are consistently being failed, with UK cancer survival outcomes remaining near the bottom of cancer league tables.
'We need to address the cancer workforce crisis, deliver treatments on time and stop the situation that sees us lagging behind on cancer technologies in key areas, like radiotherapy.
'The urgent need for a cancer specific control plan is clear, and it beggars belief that clinicians are finding themselves having to produce one instead of the Government.'
Source: Daily Mail, 14 November 2023
See also: The Lancet Oncology - The future of cancer care in the UK—time for a radical and sustainable National Cancer Plan
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New health secretary opts out of making obesity and cannabis policies due to husband’s business
The newly appointed Health Secretary, Victoria Atkins, is set to recuse herself from key policy decisions due to her husband’s senior role at one of the UK’s largest sugar and medical cannabis companies.
The i understands that Ms Atkins will defer policy on obesity and medical cannabis to junior ministers to avoid any conflict of interest because of her husband Paul Kenward, who is chief executive of ABF Sugar.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) confirmed that Ms Atkins will “recuse herself on departmental issues relating to outside interests”.
ABF Sugar is one of the UK’s largest sugar producers and also owns the nation’s largest legal cannabis farm in Norfolk.
Maria Caulfield, the minister for mental health and the women’s health strategy, is likely to take on the obesity brief given her previous experience in Government policy on the issue, i understands.
Either Andrea Leadsom or Andrew Stephenson, who joined the DHSC following Monday’s reshuffle, will likely take the lead on decisions around medical cannabis licensing, production and NHS prescriptions given other ministers already have full briefs.
ABF Sugar owns British Sugar, which produces Silver Spoon, and is a subsidiary of FTSE-100 group Associated British Foods (ABF). It has regularly lobbied the Government against the introduction of sugar taxes to help the UK conquer a growing obesity crisis.
Ahead of the introduction of the Government levy on soft drinks containing added sugar in 2018, Mr Kenward, whose company produces around two thirds of the UK’s quota of sugar, claimed the solution to obesity was a more “complex issue” than cutting sugar consumption.
Source: The i, 14 November 2023
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Fewer children in England having teeth out since sugar tax began, study finds
Fewer children in England have been having rotten teeth pulled out since the sugar tax on soft drinks began, prompting calls for the levy to be extended to sweets, biscuits and cereals.
The number of children aged 18 and under going into hospital to have teeth extracted has fallen by 12% since the sugar tax came into force in April 2018.
The figures come from analysis of NHS data on hospital admissions of children to have decayed teeth pulled out, undertaken by researchers from Cambridge and Glasgow universities.
The trend means that an estimated 5,638 fewer children are having teeth extracted under general anaesthetic every year compared with before the soft drinks industry levy (SDIL) started.
Dentists said the gains made in the fight against tooth decay since the levy came into force should embolden the government to impose a similar tax on other sugary products, including milkshakes, cakes, yoghurts, sweets, cereals and biscuits. This would push food manufacturers to reformulate their products to make them healthier in the same way as has happened with many soft drinks, the British Dental Association (BDA) said.
“The sugar tax is delivering the goods in the fight against tooth decay, so it’s time to double down,” said Eddie Crouch, the BDA’s chair. “This isn’t about adding to the cost of living. When voluntary action has clearly failed, this shows government must force industry’s hand on cutting sugar.”
Source: The Guardian, 15 November 2023
See also: BMJ Nutrition, Prevention and Health - Estimated impact of the UK soft drinks industry levy on childhood hospital admissions for carious tooth extractions: interrupted time series analysis
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Landlady fined for allowing smoking inside her Rugeley pub
Police were checking CCTV as part of an unrelated investigation and saw Amanda Frisby and others smoking inside The Cabin, Rugeley, outside opening hours.
She later admitted in an interview with police and Cannock Chase Council's Environmental Health team to smoking and permitting others to in April.
She was ordered to pay £766 with five others given fixed penalty notices.
The smoking, an offence under the Health Act 2006, happened in the early hours of 23 April and three fixed penalty notices were issued in May, one in June and a final one in July, the council said.
Cannock Chase councillor Andrea Muckley, leader of the Green group and environment and climate change portfolio leader, said this was the first case of this nature she and officers had encountered, adding it was "extremely rare".
Source: The BBC, 14 November 2023
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United States: Juul Labs raises $1.3 bln in funding
Juul Labs said on Monday it has raised about $1.3 billion in funding, months after the e-cigarette maker revealed plans to lay off about 250 people in a bid to reduce its operating costs.
The company has been seeking financing alternatives and cut jobs twice since last year, in a bid to protect its business as it deals with lawsuits related to the marketing of its e-cigarettes.
Juul disclosed in a regulatory filing it had raised $1.27 billion in funding from a total offering amount of $1.6 billion.
Juul in April agreed to pay $462 million over eight years to settle claims by six U.S. states including New York and California, along with the District of Columbia, that it unlawfully marketed its addictive products to minors.
Source: Reuters, 13 November 2023
See also: Tobacco Tactics – JUUL Labs
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