Thank you for contacting me about Pancreatic Cancer UK’s Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month parliamentary drop-in. Unfortunately, due to my ministerial duties, I was unable to attend. However, I would like to assure you that improving the outcomes for those diagnosed with pancreatic cancer is something which I take very seriously.
I fully agree that more must be done to reduce the survival gap between pancreatic cancer and other cancers, and the development of the Major Conditions Strategy provides an important opportunity to focus on improving these outcomes.
The input of patient groups like Pancreatic Cancer UK will be invaluable to help develop the Major Conditions Strategy by highlighting the lived experience of people with pancreatic cancer.
It is vital to increase the level of research into pancreatic cancer and to learn as much as we can about this devastating illness. For this reason, the Government is funding research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), which has allocated £3.6 million towards seven research projects into pancreatic cancer since 2016. In addition to this, the Government is actively encouraging more bids from researchers so that the NIHR can allocate more towards pancreatic cancer research.
