Breakout session 3: Public health and prevention

 

 

Paul Mackenzie

Delegates in the workshop explored the barriers faced by some of these groups and provided key recommendations to the APPGC.

Speakers

• Dr Frank Atherton, President, Association of Directors of Public Health
• Paul Mackenzie, Health Inequalities Manager, Merseyside and Cheshire Cancer Network
• Dr Daniel Seddon, Head of the North West School of Public Health

View Dr Frank Atherton's presentation [PDF, 1mb] |

Challenges

• Education and awareness raising activities for cancer are not targeted appropriately which result in a lack of knowledge amongst the general public.
• Ageism is a key factor for both older and younger people. Older people are often not targeted by preventative measures because of health professionals' attitudes towards age. Younger people can often be overlooked or dismissed due to assumptions made about prevalence.
• Late presentation is a problem particularly for those in more deprived areas. This occurs because of poor education and barriers to accessing health services.
• Poor communication- a lack of tailored information can be problematic. 

Conclusions

Top three ideas for reducing cancer inequalities:

• outreach services and awareness raising campaigns for cancer need to be developed with input from groups that experience inequalities and targeted more effectively
• there should be a national level policy to ensure inclusion in all cancer screening programmes which can then be implemented on the ground by each PCT
• data collection should be increased to allow more research into the equality gaps that exists.

Breakout session four: Rarer cancers