Henry Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Henry Smith on 2015-12-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to raise public awareness of multiple myeloma and the risks presented by late diagnosis of acute myeloid leukaemia.

Jane Ellison

Public Health England’s ‘Be Clear on Cancer’ campaigns do not currently include multiple myeloma.

A number of factors are taken into account when deciding which campaigns to develop and run, with one of the main criteria being the scope to save lives through earlier diagnosis and whether the cancer has a clear early sign or symptom that the general public can act upon should it arise.

We appreciate that this means that there are a number of cancers, besides Myeloid Leukaemia, that are not covered by ‘Be Clear on Cancer’ specifically. Given this, Public Health England is looking at developing an approach to raise awareness of generic symptoms that can indicate a wider number of cancers and the need to visit the doctor promptly with these symptoms. This work is currently in development, with the help of a number of experts, including clinicians and charities.