TORONTO, July 10,
2024 /CNW/ - Today, Cancer Action Now issued the
following open letter to the Premiers of Canada to relay the urgency and dire need to
discuss the current gaps in cancer care.
Dear Canada's Premiers:
As you convene in Halifax to
align on your collective efforts to strengthen the Canadian
federation and exercise leadership on issues of importance to
people living in Canada, we wish
to relay to you the urgency and dire need to discuss the current
gaps in cancer care.
According to a report published in the Canadian Medical
Association Journal, there is projected to be 247,100 new cancer
cases diagnosed in 2024, and 88,100 cancer-related
deaths.1 These numbers are not just statistics; they
represent families in Canada
facing cancer.
People in Canada living with
cancer are facing significant challenges in screening, obtaining a
diagnosis and accessing treatment, and the agonizing wait times can
feel like an eternity for those living in uncertainty.
Judy Ross, a 71-year-old resident
of Nova Scotia was diagnosed with
stage 3 breast cancer not once, but twice. She struggled with
accessing timely care, leading to multiple years of missed
mammograms and a distressing six-month wait for treatment. Judy's
message to policy makers is to reduce wait times and provide
immediate support to those diagnosed with cancer, including
improving access to primary care.
Judy's story is, unfortunately, just one of many, highlighting a
system that fails to meet the needs of patients and families
affected by cancer.
Cancer Action Now would like to recognize the commitments your
governments have made over the last year to improve patient access
and the patient experience, including the new funding allotted to
cancer care specific initiatives outlined in the Saskatchewan, Manitoba and British
Columbia 2024 Budgets. While significant progress is being
made, there is still more work that needs to be done.
Cancer Action Now is calling on Canada's Premiers to make cancer a political
priority so that people living with cancer are no longer Dying to
be a Priority.
Canada's Premiers need to work
together, and in partnership with the federal government, to make
cancer a priority and develop a Pan-Canadian Action Plan to improve
cancer care in Canada through
coordinated efforts. We call on all Canada's Premiers to:
- Commit to new investments towards the improvement of
measurable value-based patient outcomes in cancer, with
meaningful input from stakeholders, including patient and caregiver
representatives. This may be achieved through the development of
publicly available dashboards that regularly report on important
cancer care metrics, as well as strengthening pan-Canadian oncology
federated data networks.
- Prioritize early cancer detection and screening by
increasing funding for existing programs, supporting research into
new detection methods, ensuring equitable access to screening
services, and strengthening team-based, interdisciplinary primary
care.
- Ensure an equity lens is applied to all decision-making in
cancer care, ensuring underserved populations impacted by
cancer can access the care they need, close to home.
- Explore an expedited review and approval pathway for novel and
innovative cancer treatments and ensure equitable access to
these treatments for people in Canada living with cancer.
Important signs of progress will be when we see more Canadians
diagnosed with early-stage cancer, fewer diagnosed with late-stage
cancer, and those living with cancer not just surviving but
thriving. This will mean our cancer care system is truly responsive
to patient needs and living up to the world-class promise that it
has.
Sincerely,
The Cancer Action Now Alliance
About Cancer Action Now:
Cancer Action Now is a national alliance of patient
organizations, professional associations, and life science
companies who are witnessing the magnitude of the problem our
cancer care systems and its patients are facing. We have come
together to call on governments to address the issues in our cancer
care systems so that Canadians with cancer have a chance to live
longer, better lives than anywhere else in the world.
Website: www.canceractionnow.ca
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1
Brenner, Darren R., Jennifer Gilis, Alain A. Demers, et.al.
Projected estimates of cancer in Canada. Canadian Medical
Association Journal (2024).
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SOURCE Cancer Action Now