Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to improve awareness of the (a) signs and (b) symptoms of cancer in young people.

The Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce has been set up to progress the Government’s mission to deliver world-leading cancer services. This dedicated work focusing on cancers affecting children and young people will explore detection and diagnosis, including improving awareness of the signs and symptoms of cancer in young people, as well as genomic testing and treatment, and research and innovation.

NHS England is focused on accelerating earlier and faster cancer diagnosis to achieve the NHS Long Term Plan ambition of diagnosing 75% of people at an early stage by 2028. NHS England’s comprehensive strategy includes raising awareness of cancer symptoms, tackling barriers to help-seeking, and encouraging people to get checked. Targeted awareness campaigns such as Help Us, Help You are a crucial component of this work. The campaigns address specific symptoms, including those linked to common, rare, and less-common cancers, cancer screening, and the fear-related barriers to seeking help from the National Health Service across all cancer types.