Edward has attended a parliamentary drop-in event, organised by Bayer UK with the backing of the patient organisation Prostate Cancer Research and leading clinicians, to highlight practical steps that can be taken to help tackle health inequalities in prostate cancer care.
As many as 1 in 8 men are estimated to get prostate cancer within their lifetime, but despite its widespread impact, variations in care across the health system are leading to differences in diagnoses, experiences, and outcomes for many men. With emerging government plans to improve patient care through initiatives such as a promised National Cancer and Men’s Health strategies, it is more important than ever that the needs of prostate cancer patients are reflected in those strategies.
The event marked the launch of the findings of a Health Inequalities Expert Forum held by Bayer earlier this year, in close collaboration with the patient and clinical communities, to identify what more could be done to mitigate these challenges in prostate cancer diagnosis and care. The vision statements they presented focussed on: Accelerating the speed of diagnosis by removing barriers to testing; Empowering men and communities with the information to better understand the condition and advocate for themselves; and Eliminating inequitable geographical and economic barriers to treatment.
Edward said: "Prostate cancer is one of the most common cancers, with 1 in 8 men estimated to get the disease in their lifetime. We need to continue to work to improve diagnosis, to improve treatments, and to improve outcomes for men with prostate cancer, and Bayer's event in Parliament and its research was a great opportunity to discuss this in more detail."
