On World Cancer Day, North Wales Assembly Member Mark Isherwood has called for more to be done to improve cancer services and outcomes in Wales.
Speaking in today’s Business Statement in the Welsh Parliament, Mr Isherwood asked for a Statement on the Welsh Government’s next Cancer Delivery Plan, emphasising that while cancer survival rates have improved, there is still a long way to go.
He said:
“Today is World Cancer Day. The Welsh Government's current Cancer Delivery Plan is coming to an end. I call for a Statement on the progress of the next Cancer Delivery Plan to improve cancer services and outcomes.
“Thanks to research, two in four people in Wales survive their cancer for 10 years or more, but we still have a long way to go. Cancer Research UK's ambition is to accelerate progress and see three in four people surviving the disease by 2034. As constituents told me, ‘we're so close to major steps forwards in curing and preventing cancer. However, we're going to need this final push over the coming years to get there’.
“As Cancer Research UK told Members at their [Senedd] event upstairs earlier, they're calling for ‘a commitment to address the gaps in the diagnostic workforce to allow for more testing and improved outcomes for patients in Wales’, and they're calling for ‘an assurance that the Welsh Government is committed to a new and ambitious cancer strategy in Wales’.”
Responding, the Trefnydd, Rebecca Evans AM/AC, told Mr Isherwood that the Health Minister will be making a statement on ‘Progress on the Single Cancer Pathway Update’ on February 25.
