It is now more than six years since Dame Tessa Jowell began the final campaign of her life: a call for more help for people with brain tumours. She recognised that improving care for people with brain cancer had for too long been dismissed as too difficult.
While outcomes have greatly improved in many cancers, fewer new treatment options have been developed in recent years for brain tumours compared with other cancers. Patients with brain tumours not only face inequity compared with other cancers, but also compared with other countries; the UK ranks 25th of 33 comparable countries for five-year brain cancer survival.
People like Tessa, diagnosed with the most aggressive forms of brain cancer, have a less than 5% chance of living beyond five years.
While much progress has come from the tireless work of charities and researchers, the government is particularly well-placed to fund a step change in the mission to find new treatments and care models for brain tumours.
Last month, patient groups, clinicians, government officials and industry gathered to discuss the next steps in the government’s £40m commitment to fund new brain tumour research, funding pledged in the wake of Dame Tessa’s death in 2018. This gathering and the momentum around it represent the best chance in a generation to make progress.
The government’s new initiatives included funding to find new treatments, supported through a national consortium, funding to find new care and support models, and funding for innovative Tessa Jowell allied health professional (AHP) research fellowships.
These initiatives came from a unique collaboration between the members of the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission, teams at National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), and the wider brain tumour community. They represent years of tireless campaigning and convening work from the community.
At the time we praised the announcement as starting a “new chapter” in brain tumour research.
But with a change in government coming, there is a risk that we may lose momentum, that it will be one step forward, two steps back for patients with brain tumours.
With election day imminent, and over six years after the £40m was first pledged, it is a matter of urgency that the momentum of this unique collaboration does not stall. My wish is that the new administration entering Whitehall after 4 July continues this impressive body of collaborative work.
We at the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission and members of the community stand ready to collaborate, convene and deliver something transformative, ensuring that the scientists, clinicians and patients get the backing they deserve. I really hope that the next government will commit to Tessa’s legacy and deliver for patients and their families living with the disease today.
July 5 will mark the anniversary of the founding of the NHS and the first day of a new government: it could also be the perfect moment for the next health secretary gets to deliver progress for brain cancer patients, in a fitting tribute to Dame Tessa’s campaigning.
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