The new National Cancer Plan is a bold step change in how the NHS will transform itself to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer in the coming decade – with community pharmacy playing an important role.
Research suggests that between 30-50% of all cancers are preventable; and as a trusted source for patients, community pharmacies are already playing an active part in cancer prevention.
I’ve seen firsthand how pharmacy teams use their expert skills, knowledge, and experience to help people in their community with healthy living, from smoking cessation to weight loss support – reducing the risk of cancer.
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Now, under the new Cancer Plan, community pharmacy’s role in cancer prevention and early detection is going to become even more vital.
We are expanding the catch-up HPV vaccination for young people who missed vaccination at school, Public health, school immunisation teams, primary care and Cancer Alliances are collaborating on tailored campaigns to urge boys and girls to get their HPV vaccine at their local pharmacy – with a particular emphasis on underserved populations.
This will help contribute to us delivering on our commitment to eliminate cervical cancer by 2040.
While an innovative early-detection tool which uses a capsule sponge to test patients for persistent heartburn – which can be a precursor to oesophageal cancer – is set to be trialled in pharmacies over the coming years.
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Taken together, these begin to position community pharmacy as a visible and accessible frontline service that helps identify and prevent cancer in local communities.
I believe this is good news for pharmacy and, with 1.6 million people per day already using community pharmacies for their health needs, good news for patients too.
The importance and value of community pharmacies is clear. The National Cancer Plan ambitions involving community pharmacy are a statement of trust in the sector and its workforce’s ability to help the NHS support more people affected by cancer.
David Webb is chief pharmaceutical officer at NHS England