October 19, 2004
For Immediate Release

News Release

Health Minister Releases Two Cancer Reports: More Canadians with Cancer Living Longer

OTTAWA - Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh today released two cancer reports: Progress Report on Cancer Control in Canada and Diagnosis and Initial Treatment of Cancer in Canadian Adolescents 15 to 19 Years of Age.

The first report — Progress Report on Cancer Control in Canada — is the first national report to give a comprehensive overview of how Canada is doing in the fight against cancer. The report highlights Canada's successes in cancer control and lays out the challenges to future progress. It was developed in collaboration with provincial/territorial cancer officials and other national stakeholders.

"The rate at which Canadians are dying from cancer has gone down since the 1980s," said Minister Dosanjh. "It is heartening to note the improvements we have made as a country in terms of earlier diagnosis an more advanced treatment. Yet the report also clearly sets the challenges we still face and shows the importance of the cooperative work that the federal government, provinces and territories are doing to develop the Canadian Strategy for Cancer Control. Minister of State Dr. Carolyn Bennett, Canada's Chief Public Health Officer Dr. David Butler Jones and I are committed to maintaining the momentum that has been created in support of the Strategy."

Effective cancer control is a complex process that requires the collaborative efforts of all cancer stakeholders across a wide variety of sectors. The Canadian Strategy for Cancer Control, currently being developed, will help guide Canada's approach to cancer prevention and control needs as our country's population grows and ages.

"Obviously, we have challenges ahead of us, but the Canadian Strategy for Cancer Control is on the right track. Prevention and integrated disease control will be a key activity within the new Public Health Agency of Canada," said Minister of State (Public Health) Dr. Carolyn Bennett.

The second report — Diagnosis and Initial Treatment of Cancer in Canadian Adolescents 15 to 19 Years of Age — provides Canadian information on the diagnoses and initial treatment patterns of Canadian adolescents diagnosed with cancer between 1995 and 2000. This report was developed in collaboration with key cancer stakeholders who participated in the Canadian Childhood Cancer Surveillance and Control Program.

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Backgrounders:

• Progress Report on Cancer Control in Canada
• Diagnosis and Initial Treatment of Cancer in Canadian Adolescents 15 to 19 Years of Age

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Media Inquiries:
Aggie Adamczyk
Public Health Agency of Canada
(613) 941-8189

Public Inquiries:
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