This House of Lords Library Briefing provides information on World Cancer Day, marked on 4 February each year.
World Cancer Day 2018 (162 KB , PDF)
World Cancer Day takes places on 4 February each year. It was established by the Paris Charter adopted at the World Summit Against Cancer for the New Millennium in 2000. By marking the same day each year, the event aims to save millions of preventable deaths through education, raising awareness and by pressing both governments and individuals to take action.
In 2018, World Cancer Day is taking place under the theme ‘We Can. I Can.’, which explores “how everyone—as a collective or as individuals—can do their part to reduce the global burden of cancer”. The key messages of the day this year focus on what actions can be taken both collectively and individually. For example, the messages under ‘We Can’ include: inspire action, take action; create healthy schools; shape policy change; and improve access to cancer care. For ‘I Can’, the messages include: make healthy lifestyle choices; ask for support; make my voice heard; and take control of my cancer journey.
World Cancer Day 2018 (162 KB , PDF)
In 2024, the House of Lords established a committee to consider the prevention and consequences of preterm birth in England. This briefing provides a summary of the House of Lords Preterm Birth Committee's finding, reactions to its report, and the government’s response, ahead of a debate in the House of Lords on 6 June 2025.
The House of Lords is due to discuss NHS staff access to single-sex spaces on 1 May 2025. Following a recent Supreme Court judgment about the meaning of the term ‘sex’ in the Equality Act 2010, the Equality and Human Rights Commission issued an interim update on 25 April 2025 about the implications of this for workplaces and services provided to the public.
In England, the NHS provides prosthetics where suitable for people who have had a limb amputation. However, concerns have been raised about how quickly individuals can access multifunctional limbs. Also, while high-performance sports prosthetics are available for children, some campaigners are calling for adults to be able to access them from the NHS.
