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Cancer: Health Education

Volume 486: debated on Tuesday 20 January 2009

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the extent to which (a) primary care trusts and (b) cancer networks are giving high priority to raising public awareness of cancer risk factors. (248446)

Through the Cancer Reform Strategy’s (CRS) National Awareness and Early Diagnosis Initiative (NAEDI), the Department, in partnership with Cancer Research UK, is co-ordinating a programme to support local interventions to increase cancer symptom awareness and encourage earlier presentation. NAEDI’s launch event in November 2008, was very well attended by primary care trusts and cancer networks from across the country.

As highlighted in the first annual report on the CRS, which was published in December 2008 (a copy has already been placed in the Library), the annual report for 2009 will have a greater focus on local implementation. This will include an assessment of local progress in raising public awareness of cancer risk factors.