Annual Highlights 2015/16 presents recent achievements of Canada’s cancer strategy
Effective, Efficient, Evolving
August 11, 2016
Tags | tobacco use
For close to 10 years the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer has been working towards our goal of advancing Canada’s national cancer control strategy and reducing the impact of cancer on Canadians.
Effective, Efficient, Evolving: Enhancing Cancer Control in Canada, the Partnership’s most recent annual report, highlights the collaborative progress we are making as a cancer control community.
In the 2015/16 annual report, we highlight our work with cancer agencies from across the country on a wide variety of initiatives. These include, but are not limited to, strengthening analytic capacity to create a complete picture of cancer care in Canada and funding nine new projects to expand support for cancer patients who want to quit smoking.
Linking data to improve care
Each step of a person’s cancer experience creates data – a detailed picture of their diagnosis, treatment and outcomes. When combined with the data of thousands of other Canadians, that information can answer important questions about cancer care in this country. But it’s difficult to get a complete picture of cancer care in Canada. Data are collected and stored in various locations across the country: hospitals, cancer centres, community pharmacies, and provincial and national cancer registries. The Partnership is tackling these challenges by supporting a variety of data linkage projects through its Coordinated Data Development Initiative (CDDI) and by working with cancer agencies across the country to strengthen analytic capacity.
Smoking cessation in cancer care
Cancer patients who quit smoking can lower their risk of dying from cancer by a startling 30-40%. With Partnership funding, seven provinces and two territories have launched tobacco initiatives to support cancer patients who want to quit smoking. Some partners are using funding to evaluate the long-term effectiveness of existing approaches, whereas others will use this funding to enhance their smoking cessation systems by finding better ways to aid cancer patients and support cancer care professionals.
The progress we are making together would simply not be possible without the unprecedented collaboration now taking place across the country. The cancer system is evolving. Together, we’re leading the change.