Campaign and influence
Campaign and influence
It is important that key stakeholders and policy makers in Government are made aware of the issues surrounding pancreatic cancer. From inequalities in funding, care and survival to access to treatments and the lack of public awareness of the disease. We highlight this wherever we can and provide a voice for those affected by pancreatic cancer in parliament.
Making poor survival rates a thing of the past
Cancer patients in the UK face worse survival rates than other comparable high-income countries. The NHS sets out a target of 75% of cancers diagnosed in the early stages of the disease (stages one and two). For cancers with vague symptoms like pancreatic cancer, this represents a challenge that currently cannot be met.
Between ten and twenty percent of pancreatic cancer is currently diagnosed in the early stages and for many patients, survival remains under six months.
We are calling for specific policy targets and investment for pancreatic cancer to tackle this.
We are calling for policy action to ensure that there is a measurable target for improving the survival of pancreatic cancer. We are also calling for more investment in cancer services from diagnostic scanners to cancer specialist nurses. We want to see long term commitments to NHS staffing and estates.
Taking action together
We cannot overcome the challenge of early diagnosis and survival alone! We work with other charities to be a voice for pancreatic cancer alongside other cancers or conditions with similar barriers to diagnosis and survival. Our voices are more powerful when combined with others and we use these groups to help push for issues important to us and our supporters.
Our calls for policy targets for pancreatic cancer can travel further when there are many voices to amplify them. We are determined to push for policies that will benefit pancreatic cancer patients and drive earlier diagnosis.
Our campaign legacy
Our past campaigns have successfully led to debates in parliament, access to drugs and meetings with health ministers.
We use all of the information gathered and lessons learnt from past campaigns to influence what we do now, and the policy targets we are calling for.
Examples of our past campaigns
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In 2018, we examined figures from the National Cancer Intelligence Network that showed 9 in 10 patients who are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer following an emergency presentation will die within a year and only four in ten will survive more than a month.
Our campaign resulted in a meeting with the (then) health secretary Jeremy Hunt where we were able to bring this and other issues for patients with pancreatic cancer to his attention. -
In 2016, we launched a report into inequalities in pancreatic cancer care. Examining the stark regional and global inequalities which prevent progress being made in the tackling of the disease, this report concluded in a ten–point plan which forms the evidence base for current and future campaigns.
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In 2015, we launched a campaign with the aim of getting the Department of Health and NHS England to reinstate Abraxane®, a drug that extends the life of some patients with pancreatic cancer. We demonstrated outside the Department of Health and launched a petition which received over 40,000 signatures. Abraxane® has since been reinstated and is available to patients across the country.
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In April 2013, we helped supporter Maggie Watts to put together an e-petition asking for increased pancreatic cancer research finding and awareness. This petition received 100,000 signatures and a backbench debate took place in parliament, attended by the then health minister in 2014.
Campaign with us
Find out more about our current campaigning and how you can get involved.
Write to your local politician
One of the simplest ways of campaigning is by contacting your local politician.
Help us represent patientsPartnerships and coalitions
We work collaboratively with many partnerships and coalitions across the UK.
Get to know our partners