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Policy blueprint for cancer prevention

We know that no single policy can prevent cancer or stem the rising rates of overweight and obesity – we need a range of policies across lots of different areas to shape our environment to be healthier.

Policy blueprint for cancer prevention on blue background

Designed as a one-stop shop for policymakers and advocates, our Policy blueprint for cancer prevention presents evidence on cancer risk – the World Cancer Research Fund Cancer Prevention Recommendations – with policy advice for population-level prevention across diet and weight, breastfeeding, physical activity and alcohol.

It outlines a package of policy recommendations for preventing cancer and living well beyond cancer, alongside our Cancer Prevention Recommendations.

Package of Recommendations from the policy blueprint for cancer prevention

Other important factors for cancer prevention not covered in this blueprint are: not smoking, reducing sun exposure, and vaccination against and for cancer-linked viruses (such as HPV, Hepatitis A and B).


Our policy recommendations build on state-of-the-art policy advice for population-level cancer prevention, including the World Health Organization’s non-communicable diseases (NCD) Best Buys, the Global action plan on physical activity, the Global action plan on alcohol, the International Code of Marketing of Breast-Milk Substitutes, and integrating existing our policy tools, such as the NOURISHING and MOVING frameworks.

The Policy blueprint for cancer prevention uses an integrated approach and outlines policies to promote healthy diets and weight, support breastfeeding, increase physical activity and reduce alcohol intake. Our policy recommendations span 8 areas:

  1. Marketing restrictions, such as mandatory advertising bans on food high in fat, sugar and salt, and sugary drinks, on TV and online, and restrictions on the promotion of breastmilk substitutes in line with the International Code of Marketing of Breast-Milk Substitutes.
  2. Fiscal and legal tools to make unhealthy food and drinks less attractive, such as implementing taxes on food high in sugar, fat, and salt; providing subsidies to make healthy food more affordable; and applying excise taxes on alcoholic drinks, with revenue allocated to health budgets.
  3. Policies to create healthy and safe schools and workplaces, public institutions and health facilities, such as providing universal free or subsidised healthy school meals; setting high-quality nutrition standards for meals in schools; and enabling breastfeeding on return to work or study.
  4. Procurement, planning, and incentives in communities, such as introducing nutrition standards for public procurement; supporting local production of healthy food through short supply chains; or promoting community walking and cycling programmes.
  5. Measures to foster healthy urban and built environments, such as implementing restrictions on the density of fast-food outlets; establishing active design guidelines for urban planners; and incentivising health-promoting urban design.
  6. Policies to promote active and public transport, such as creating transport systems that prioritise walking, cycling and public transport, or enhancing road safety for pedestrians and cyclists.
  7. Strategies to effectively inform people, such as introducing robust front-of-pack food labelling; providing national alcohol guidance to inform the public of health risks; and health warning labels about alcohol harms including cancer risk and other health harms.
  8. Counselling services in healthcare, such as offering nutrition counselling in primary care; providing brief psychosocial interventions in healthcare settings; and integrating physical activity counselling into routine health services.

Co-benefits of cancer prevention policies

The Blueprint also highlights the potential co-benefits of cancer prevention policy, such as protecting against other NCDs including cardiovascular disease and diabetes. It outlines how cancer prevention policies can contribute to:

  • meeting sustainability and climate targets
  • reducing inequities
  • addressing commercial determinants of health
  • fulfilling human rights

It also discusses potential trade-offs of cancer prevention policies across these 4 areas, such as when commercial interests and health do not align.

The Blueprint is accompanied by policy factsheets on each of our Cancer Prevention Recommendations. These provide in-depth advice to policymakers and advocates on how to roll out each Recommendation through population-level policies.

Policy factsheets on cancer risk factors

Download this factsheet

Healthy weight

Find out how our Recommendation to be a healthy weight can be rolled out at a population level

Download this factsheet

Physical activity

Promoting active travel and healthy built and urban environments are key to meeting this Recommendation

Download this factsheet

Diet

There are many ways that governments can make eating a healthy diet a possibility for all, through good policies

Download this factsheet

Alcohol

Recognising the reality of alcohol harm, with policies to help populations consume less

Download this factsheet

Breastfeeding

Good for mother, good for baby – how can we make breastfeeding more widespread?

Download this factsheet

Red and processed meat

With strong evidence of links to bowel cancer, find our how populations can meet this Recommendation

Download this factsheet

Sugar sweetened drinks

Taxes and policies to enable access to drinking water are some of the ways to meet our Recommendation to limit sugary drinks

Download this factsheet

Fast foods and other processed foods and cancer

Our evidence-based approach can limit consumption of unhealthy food at a population level – find out how

Download this factsheet

Supplements

Our Recommendation is don’t take supplements for cancer prevention but instead meet nutritional needs through diet alone

Download this factsheet

Living with and beyond cancer

Our policy factsheet can help the increasing number of people who are living with or beyond a cancer diagnosis

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