THE newly published National Cancer Plan for England arrived with bold ambitions: to transform the country from a “long-standing laggard to a genuine global leader in cancer” by 2035, saving 320,000 additional lives. It rightly acknowledges that technology alone cannot deliver these outcomes, and emphasises partnership with “charities, pension funds, social enterprise and wider civil society”.
The plan explicitly names charities, academia, life sciences, social enterprise, and even pension funds as partners. But faith communities — one of the most established and widespread networks in civil society, particularly in deprived communities — are completely absent. This strategic blind spot could undermine the plan’s commitment to addressing stark health inequalities in areas such as Blackpool, Knowsley, and Kingston upon Hull — precisely where faith institutions often have the strongest presence and trust.
The World Federation of Public Health Associations (WFPHA), representing public-health associations across six continents, has long recognised faith-based organisations as one of the most extensive networks for health promotion worldwide. Faith communities reach deep into disadvantaged populations. In many deprived communities, churches, mosques, temples, gurdwaras, and synagogues remain among the few functioning civil-society institutions with regular, trusted contact with residents, maintaining relationships across generations.
International research demonstrates the pivotal part that they play across the cancer-care continuum. In the United States, faith-based cancer-education programmes have achieved significant screening-uptake increases among African-American and Latino populations — groups that, like many ethnic minorities in England, face disproportionate cancer burdens. Studies from Sub-Saharan Africa show that faith communities achieve cervical-cancer screening rates that formal health systems struggle to match. In the Asia Pacific region, they have demonstrated remarkable success in tobacco-cessation and dietary-change programmes — two key preventable-risk factors highlighted in England’s plan.
THE three priorities of the plan align well with faith communities’ demonstrated strengths.
First, primary prevention. One third of cancers are preventable through addressing tobacco, diet, obesity, and alcohol. Faith communities provide sustained social- support networks essential for lifestyle modification. They offer smoke-free environments, communal meals modelling healthy eating, and social activities that do not centre on alcohol. Many faith traditions already incorporate health messages into their ethical teachings.
Second, screening uptake. Early diagnosis depends on expanded screening programmes, and yet uptake remains low in deprived communities and among ethnic minorities — populations among whom faith communities have the greatest influence. Faith leaders can provide culturally appropriate education and normalise screening participation. Faith-based spaces can host mobile screening units where people already gather.
Third, treatment support. The plan emphasises “neighbourhood care” for the growing number of people who live with cancer. Faith communities excel at sustained practical support: transport to appointments, help with shopping and meal preparation, respite for carers, and the emotional and spiritual support that complements clinical care. Faith communities can help to address the social isolation that often accompanies cancer diagnosis. In areas in which lung cancer has contributed almost a whole year to the nine-year life expectancy gap between rich and poor, churches and other faith institutions are often the strongest remaining civil-society actors.
For many faith communities, health ministry represents core religious values — from Christian care for “the least of these” to Islamic social justice, Sikh and Hindu seva, and Jewish tikkun olam. This theological commitment provides what secular programmes struggle to achieve: sustainability beyond funding cycles. Faith communities maintain presence and relationships over decades, providing the consistency essential to long-term health behaviour change.
ENGAGING faith communities need not be complicated. What are needed are recognition, facilitation, and modest resourcing: training faith leaders as cancer champions; using faith-based venues for mobile diagnostics; developing culturally appropriate resources in partnership with faith communities; establishing referral pathways to neighbourhood health teams; and including faith representatives in local cancer alliances.
The Christian Dental Fellowship demonstrates how faith communities contribute health expertise: it has thousands of trained professionals committed to serving under-served populations. Similar networks exist across other faith traditions.
The National Cancer Plan’s ambitions are right, its diagnosis is accurate, and its emphasis on prevention is evidence-based. But its ignoring of faith communities threatens its equity goals. From a global public-health perspective, England is catching up, not pioneering.
The plan states that “If we get cancer care right, we get healthcare right.” Getting cancer care right requires engaging all of society’s resources, including its oldest and most widespread community networks. Faith communities are ready to serve. The question is whether the NHS and the Government are ready to partner.
Dr Raman Bedi is Emeritus Professor at King’s College, London, a former Chief Dental Officer for England, and President-elect of the World Federation of Public Health Associations.
