Today the UK Government has set out their plans for ‘levelling up’, how they will help parts of the country left behind in many ways to catch up on a range of measures, including health.

An important place to start will be tackling cancer disparities across the country.

So – what does the Government need to do next to level up on cancer?

Tackling the unequal cancer burden

Around 4 in 10 cancer cases are caused by preventable risk factors– most importantly smoking and obesity. Smoking rates are much higher in more deprived areas,which has a major impact on health. Smoking alone accounts for approximately half of the difference in life expectancy between the most and least deprived groups in England.

Unfortunately,right now Government is well off track to with its target for a smokefree England by 2030. But even worse, for the most deprived group that milestone won’t be reached until the mid-2040s.

A recent report by Action on Smoking and Health and Cancer Research UK showed that years of cuts have contributed to variation in quality and accessibility of stop smoking services.Local authorities that had to cut these services, and now rely on the NHS, were most likely to report negative impacts from the pandemic.

How can the Government address these issues?A good start would be publishing a world-leading and properly funded Tobacco Control Plan for England. Funding for that could come by introducing a ‘Smokefree Fund’, which make the tobacco industry pay for measures to tackle smoking and help people quit, but crucially without letting them influence how the money is spent.

Obesity is another risk factor for cancer, and there’s variation there too.Evidence shows that obesity disproportionally affects people from more deprived areas and that it contributes to major health disparities.The environment people live in is a significant challenge here,with the less healthy option often the easier and cheaper choice.

There’s clear evidence for acting to prevent childhood obesity.Children who are obese are five times more likely to be obese as adults,putting them at higher risk of developing 13 different types of cancer.

Read more- https://news.cancerresearchuk.org/2022/02/02/levelling-up-what-should-it-mean-for-cancer/amp/