I would like to thank Scott Arthur MP, as well as the many charities who have supported his Private Member’s Bill, for their advocacy on behalf of people living with rarer cancers.
Over the last few months, many MPs across the House have also spoken movingly about the experiences of their family members or constituencies who are living or have had cancer. While I was unable to attend the Third Reading debate on Friday 11 July, I am supportive of the Private Member’s Bill.
My colleagues in the Shadow Health team have supported the Rare Cancers Bill since it was introduced and I am pleased that the Government also agreed to support the Bill, allowing it to progress and significantly increase the likelihood it will become law. The Bill has now been passed to the House of Lords where it will be scrutinised by Peers over the next few months.
We must ensure there is every incentive for research and development into drugs for rare conditions to improve the treatment options available to patients. For this reason, reviewing the Orphan Drug Regulations will help us understand whether there is enough incentive for companies to invest in research into rare cancers. The Government should also explore how existing legislation in other countries, such as the US, could be applied in the UK.
Similarly, it is vitally important that patients with rare cancers can be easily contacted about new research, including clinical trials. Through this Bill, the Government should evaluate how the existing cancer registers could be better utilised, the merits of a new specialist registry and consider the merits of opt-in and opt-out systems at the point of diagnosis.
