Danish Government Launches Fifth National Cancer Plan
New cancer plan put in motion
Cancer Plan 5 aims to drastically improve cancer treatment in Denmark
Denmark has made significant progress in the fight against cancer in recent years. For many, getting a cancer diagnosis used to be a death sentence. That is no longer the case. Today, cancer is a disease that many people survive or live with for a long time.
With the fifth initiative in the state’s cancer plan, the government will provide cancer treatment with DKK 600 million annually. The plan contains 36 specific initiatives ensuring that more cancer patients successfully complete a course of treatment and have a higher quality of life with and after cancer.
The cancer plan includes initiatives to prevent hair loss for patients with breast cancer and a ban on tanning beds for people under 18.
“Far more people are surviving cancer today. We have come a long way, but we are not there yet. Cancer is the disease that kills most Danes every year,” says Minister of the Interior and Health Sophie Løhde. She notes that around 400,000 people in Denmark are living with or have survived cancer.
In the future, frail cancer patients must be better equipped for demanding treatment courses to reduce possible complications. There must be restrictions regarding advertising for unhealthy food and drinks such as chips and soda to children and young people under the age of 15.
The latter should result in fewer children becoming overweight, because being overweight increases the risk of developing various forms of cancer, according to the plan. It is about giving children and young people “good habits” early in life, so that cancer is better prevented, according to Løhde, according to Ritzau.
In relation to avoiding hair loss, there will be a trial scheme that is targeted at patients affected by breast cancer. The trial involves using mobile cooling caps. When cancer patients use cooling caps, the scalp is cooled, and blood circulation is reduced. This way, the cells and hair follicles will not be affected in the same way during treatment.
Read more about it here:
English:
Cancer Plan Five
Danish:
Et bedre liv med og efter kræft – Kræftplan V Maj 2025