Cancer Research: Funding Gap

Debate between Lord Carter of Haslemere and Viscount Camrose

Monday 29th January 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Carter of Haslemere (CB)]

My Lords, according to Cancer Research UK, the US Government spend five times as much per citizen on cancer research as the UK Government. Why do the Government spend so much less?

[Viscount Camrose (Con)]

I am not familiar with this analysis, but it is very difficult to understand exactly how much is spent on cancer research, for the reason I gave earlier: so much cancer research is in areas adjacent or relevant to cancer without being specifically tagged as “cancer research”. For instance, in October 2023 the Prime Minister announced a new £100 million fund for the AI life sciences accelerator mission, which will have beneficial outcomes on cancer but is not tagged directly to cancer.