By Dr. Craig Earle, CEO, Canadian Partnership Against Cancer
Cancer costs lives. Cancer costs money.
The human and economic toll of this disease is staggering, but Canada has a plan: the Canadian Strategy for Cancer Control (the Strategy).
Cancer is the leading cause of death in Canada: 1.5 million people in this country live with or beyond cancer. That’s roughly equivalent to the entire population of Edmonton.
Two out of every five people will be diagnosed in their lifetime. And the total cost of cancer in Canada last year alone was $37.7 billion, according to recent data from the Canadian Cancer Society.
What’s worse, all these numbers could rise as our population grows and ages.
That’s why the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer (CPAC) was established in 2007, with all-party support, to spearhead Canada’s plan to tackle this cancer challenge.
The Strategy is designed to ensure fewer people develop cancer, more people survive cancer, and everyone in Canada has access to high-quality cancer care, no matter who they are or where they live. It addresses the human cost of cancer, as well as the economic burden on the healthcare system, individuals, and Canada as a whole.
But we aren’t doing it alone. We work closely with federal, provincial and territorial partners, First Nations, Inuit and Métis partners, pan-Canadian health organizations, and other health system collaborators to put the Strategy into action.
Together, we are making an impact.
Real benefits for real people
CPAC’s investments and support have resulted in immediate and long-term impacts in the cancer system. Among recent examples:
- Making strides to eliminate cervical cancer in Canada – a target within reach if we take immediate action with a combination of HPV immunization and new screening techniques.
- Putting Canada on track for earlier diagnosis of as many as 2,500 new cases of lung cancer every year, thanks to new organized screening programs in all 10 provinces. These cases are people whose cancer may have previously gone undetected – and untreated – until it is too late.
“This work couldn’t have been done by anyone else but CPAC, which has such a huge and vital mandate for all cancer care in Canada.”
– Dr. Christian Finley, thoracic surgeon at St. Joseph’s Healthcare in Hamilton, Lung Cancer Lead at the International Cancer Benchmarking Partnership and Clinical Lead for Lung Cancer Screening for Ontario
- Launching a new online hub, Life after cancer: Transforming the post-treatment experience, packed with tools and resources developed by partners across Canada to help with the physical, practical, mental and emotional challenges people face after cancer treatment.
- Establishing a cancer data strategy with the Canadian Cancer Society, aligned with the federal health data strategy and interoperability roadmap, that will guide efforts to enhance the collection, integration and use of cancer data. This focused plan will ensure we have high-quality data to support better cancer care decisions and policy-making.
These are just a few of the many initiatives we are supporting and collaborating on with partners across the country. It’s an indication of Canada’s foresight and determination to drive excellence in cancer care through the shared vision of the Canadian Strategy for Cancer Control.
We’re doing together what cannot be done alone.
Learn more at: https://www.partnershipagainstcancer.ca/
Smoking cessation
When a person quits smoking, their cancer treatment becomes more effective and economical, their quality of life improves, and their chance of survival increases by about 40%.
As a result of CPAC’s smoking cessation initiative, 95 per cent of cancer care settings across the country are now offering support to help people quit smoking (compared to only 56 per cent in 2017).
“CPAC provided an opportunity to bring leaders in cancer care and smoking cessation together. Strong clinical leadership, combined with evidence, has contributed to the cultural shift that is necessary to prioritize smoking cessation as an integral part of cancer care.”
– Shelley Hewitson, Regional Manager, Horizon Health Network, New Brunswick
Palliative care and paramedics
Emergency health systems were not originally designed to meet the needs of patients requiring palliative and end-of-life care.
Today, through a joint initiative supported by CPAC and Healthcare Excellence Canada, 7500+ paramedics have been trained to provide high quality palliative care at home, which has been shown to save time, money and patient trips to the emergency department.
“By implementing this initiative more widely, emergency departments would be less congested, and paramedics would spend more of their time directly caring for patients rather than being tied up waiting to transfer patients into hospital care.”
Jean-Éric Tarride, McMaster Chair in Health Technology Management, McMaster University, and lead author of the economic evaluation of the paramedics and palliative care program
Colorectal cancer screening
Colorectal cancer is the fourth most commonly diagnosed cancer in Canada – and if it’s found early, it can be more effectively treated.
CPAC supported quality improvement projects to advance colorectal cancer screening to better meet individual patient needs, improve access to at-home screening tests, and reduce wait times for diagnostic colonoscopy for people with abnormal screening results.
“These new additions to our program will actively inform patients and their primary care providers about their increased risk due to family history. It encourages patients to engage with their primary care provider and discuss their future screening and monitoring needs.”
– Dr. Ross Stimpson, ColonCheck Medical Lead, CancerCare Manitoba
“As a result of our targeted engagement and community awareness campaigns, funded by CPAC and created in partnership with our stakeholders and community members, we have seen a significant increase in our colorectal cancer screening participation rates.”
– Jenna Long, Director, Health Services, Northwest Territories Health and Social Services Authority
