Prime Minister harper renews Support for National Strategy to Fight Cancer

March 10, 2011

TORONTO – Prime Minister Stephen Harper today announced the Government’s plan to renew support for the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer.  Prime Minister Harper made the announcement alongside Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of Heath, during a visit to MaRS Discovery District in Toronto. 

“Every year, millions of Canadians are affected by cancer, either through personal struggle, or by supporting a family member, friend or neighbour who suffers from this devastating disease,” Prime Minister Harper said.  “The funding announced today is part of our Government’s commitment to keep Canadians and their families healthy, to help doctors detect cancer sooner and give health-care workers, support groups and survivors the help they need to fight back.”

In November 2006, the Government announced the creation of the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer – an independent, not-for-profit organization whose goal is to help save Canadian lives from this tragic disease.  The Strategy was developed in cooperation with more than 700 cancer survivors and experts. 

Today, the Government announced its plan to renew funding to the Partnership over five years – 2012 to 2017 – to help it continue its invaluable work.  This includes reducing the expected number of new cases of cancer among Canadians; enhancing the quality of life for those living with cancer; and increasing the likelihood of Canadians surviving from cancer.

“As I said in 2006, every day health professionals at home and abroad are winning small victories in the long battle against cancer,” noted Prime Minister Harper.  “We’re making progress on prevention, diagnosis, treatment and hope.  And in tracking our progress closely, the Partnership is leading us on the path to a cure.”


Backgrounder

CANADIAN PARTNERSHIP AGAINST CANCER

In 2006, the Harper Government created the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer as part of its long-term commitment to fight the disease.  The Partnership is an independent, not-for-profit organization which works to reduce the number of cancer cases, minimize cancer-related deaths, and improve patient quality of life. 

The Government provided the Partnership with $250 million in funding over five years (2007 to 2012) and tasked it with implementing the Canadian Strategy for Cancer Control – a pan-Canadian plan developed in cooperation with more than 700 cancer survivors and experts.  The Strategy enables cancer experts and health professionals in communities across Canada to collaborate with the federal and provincial governments, non-government organizations, Aboriginal communities and various support groups to help reduce and prevent cancer among Canadians. 

The Harper Government is renewing its commitment to the Partnership by providing $250 million over five years, beginning in April 2012. 

Since it began operating in April 2007, the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer has:

• Armed cancer patients and physicians across Canada with state of the art knowledge about what works best to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer;
• Improved the quality of our national cancer system by monitoring its performance and identifying gaps;
• Provided online cancer training for over 700 medical providers serving more than 215 First Nations communities and organizations. The @YourSide Colleague® Cancer Care Course was developed for (and with) health-care workers in remote and rural First Nations communities, and is credited with helping community health workers identify people at risk of cancer;
• Improved the quality of life for cancer victims by providing information that addressed their social, emotional and financial needs;
• Implemented a large-scale effort to raise awareness of the common risk factors for cancer and other chronic diseases;
• Initiated the country’s largest population health study of risk factors – the Canadian Partnership for Tomorrow Project which will enroll 300,000 Canadians in a project to explore why some people develop cancer and others do not;
• Expanded cancer screening programs in all provinces and encouraged hard-to-reach populations, such as women living with cervical cancer, to undergo screening – which helped doctors catch cancer earlier; and
• Developed programs to help survivors through the tremendous uncertainty following treatment.

To continue building upon these past accomplishments, over the next five years, the Partnership will also:

• Continue to prioritize cancer knowledge gathering and sharing;
• Continue to increase access to high-quality cancer screening;
• Broaden population health research to include chronic disease risk factors, specifically those for cardio-vascular disease, and collect data on populations living in the Territories;
• Examine the unique health characteristics of Canadians living in rural and remote areas; and
• Implement a cancer action plan and improve culturally relevant cancer initiatives for First Nations, Inuit and Métis people, which will be developed in collaboration with community partners.