Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he is taking steps to reinstate the National Cancer Equality Initiative to examine inequalities in cancer care.

There are currently no plans to reinstate the National Cancer Equality Initiative. Making improvements across different cancer types is critical to reducing inequalities in cancer survival. Early cancer diagnosis is also a specific priority within the National Health Service’s wider Core20Plus5 approach to reducing healthcare inequalities.

We recognise there are particular challenges for a number of different populations, particularly for people living in the most deprived areas of the country. As part of our wider strategy on early diagnosis, we are directly targeting our activity at areas we know will make a difference. This includes awareness raising campaigns such as the NHS Help Us, Help You campaign, to increase awareness of cancer symptoms and encourage people to get checked.