RICHARD PUGH COLUMNIST

EARLIER this month, new figures were published to help analyse one-year cancer survival rates.

The figures offer a detailed snapshot not only of how early or late diagnosis can impact on outcomes, but also on how deprivation has a direct influence on people’s chances of surviving cancer.

What the data tells us is that cancer survival is worse in the poorer areas of Wales.

While 90% of people diagnosed with stage one lung cancer survive the first year in the least deprived areas, this figure makes a sharp drop to 72% of people living in Wales’ most deprived areas.

The same can be said for bowel cancer diagnosed at stages one to three, where people living in areas of greater disadvantage tend to have increasingly lower survival rates.

And again, for stage three breast cancer – women living in the least disadvantaged areas have a survival of 97.3%, compared to 88.7% in the most disadvantaged parts of Wales.

In some ways the data tells us a little bit more about what we already knew – that the earlier cancer is diagnosed, the better the outcomes are likely to be.

What the report does add is a worrying insight into the effects of deprivation.

While it is assumed that there is less understanding of the symptoms of cancer, along with a distinct stoic reluctance to “waste the doctor’s time” in more disadvantaged communities, we know that getting the right information and support can make a huge and positive impact.

Deprivation should never be the deciding factor when it comes to surviving cancer in Wales.

That is why Macmillan launched Wales’ firstever dedicated mobile cancer information and support service late last year.

Focusing not just on deprivation, but also on other distinct challenges in Wales like rurality, the new unit – called Bronwen – is there to offer cancer support and information where it is needed the most.

Thanks to the new unit, we are now reaching more people in more communities than ever before, with a 126% increase in the amount of people we have engaged with over the course of the last year alone.

Staffed by highly-skilled health and social care professionals, the Bronwen team offers decades of collective professional experience in cancer care and support.

They are dieticians, specialist cancer nurses, emotional, wellbeing and financial advisers – a vital source of information and support that can be sorely lacking in many of Wales’ poorer communities.

When asked the question “where would you have gone if Bronwen had not been present?” our visitors have answered with a resounding “nowhere” – with 76% saying they would not have got information from anywhere else.

What is most important is that of the 37,252 people who were reached by the new service, 85% of them have come from deprived or highly deprived communities.

Better dietary and wellbeing advice, less financial burden, improved understanding of cancer, its symptoms, treatments and their side-effects – this is what we are taking out onto the road.

In doing so, we aim to contribute to improving outcomes for everyone affected by cancer in Wales.

You can find out more about where Bronwen will be visiting at www.macmillan.org.uk/ mobileinfo or by following @MacmillanCymru on Twitter.

If you have been affected by cancer and would like information and support from Macmillan, please visit www.macmillan.org.uk or call the Macmillan Support line free on 0808 808 00 00.