The All Party Parliamentary Group on Ovarian Cancer

Following the launch of our Six Simple Steps campaign in Parliament in June 2010, hosted by Sharon Hodgson MP, enough support was received from MPs and Lords for Sharon to set up the All Party Parliamentary Group on Ovarian Cancer. There are currently 59 members of the group, the purpose of which is defined as follows:

To provide a forum for MPs and Peers to discuss ovarian cancer related issues; to raise areas of concern with government or other policy makers; to raise the profile of ovarian cancer within Parliament and seek opportunities to help improve survival and quality of life for women.

Officers and Members of the Group

(as at 18 March 2013) 

Title	First Name	Last Name	Party	Constituency
Mr	David	Amess	Conservative	Southend West
Mr	Stuart	Andrew	Conservative	Pudsey
Baroness	Floella	Benjamin	Liberal Democrat
Ms	Luciana	Berger	Labour/Co-Operative	Liverpool Wavertree
Mr	Jake	Berry	Conservative	Rossendale and Darwen
Lord	Karan Faridoon	Bilimoria	Cross Bench
Mr	Kevin	Brennan	Labour	Cardiff W
Mr	Steve	Brine	Conservative	Winchester
Mr	Russell	Brown	Labour	Dumfries and Galloway
Mrs	Jenny	Chapman	Labour	Darlington
Ms	Katy	Clark	Labour	North Ayrshire and Arran
Lord	Timothy	Clement Jones	Liberal Democrat
Mr	Vernon	Coaker	Labour	Gedling
Mr	Nic	Dakin	Labour	Scunthorpe
Mr	Nick	De Bois	Conservative	Enfield North
Mr	Jim	Dobbin	Labour/Co-Operative	Heywood/Middleton
Mr	Mark	Durkan	SDLP	Foyle
Mr	Clive	Efford	Labour	Eltham
Ms	Julie	Elliott	Labour	Sunderland Central
Mr	Michael	Ellis	Conservative	Northampton North
Mr	Tim	Farron	Liberal Democrat	Westmorland and Lonsdale
Baroness	Ilora	Finlay	Cross Bench
Mr	Rob	Flello	Labour	Stoke-on-Trent South
Mr	Paul	Flynn	Labour	Newport West
Ms	Pat	Glass	Labour	NW Durham
Mrs	Mary	Glindon	Labour	North Tyneside
Mr	Andrew	Gwynne	Labour	Denton and Reddish
Mr	Mike	Hancock	Liberal Democrat	Portsmouth South
Mrs	Sharon	Hodgson	Labour	Washington & Sunderland
Rt Hon	George	Howarth	Labour	Knowsley
Baroness	Elspeth	(Morton) Howe	Cross Bench
Ms	Diana	Johnson	Labour	Hull North
Lord	Nigel	Jones of Cheltenham	Liberal Democrat
Ms	Barbara	Keeley	Labour	Worsley and Eccles South
Rt Hon	David	Lammy	Labour	Tottenham
Mr	Jeremy	Lefoy	Conservative	Stafford
Ms	Mary	Macleod	Conservative	Brentford and Isleworth
Ms	Fiona	Mactaggart	Labour	Slough
Mr	Khalid	Mahmood	Labour	Birmingham, Perry Barr
Mr	Gordon	Marsden	Labour	Blackpool South
Mr	Steve	McCabe	Labour	Birmingham, Selly Oak
Mr	Michael	McCann	Labour	East Kilbride, Srathaven and Lesmahagow
Mr	Ian	Mearns	Labour	Gateshead
Mrs	Caroline	Nokes	Conservative	Romsey and Southampton North
Mrs	Linda	Riordan	Labour/Co-operative	Halifax
Mr	Andrew	Rosindell	Conservative	Romford
Ms	Laura	Sandys	Conservative	South Thanet
Mr	Virendra	Sharma	Labour	Ealing Southall
Mr	Barry	Sheerman	Labour/Co-operative	Huddersfield
Mr	Nick	Smith	Labour	Blaenau Gwent
Mr	Rory	Stewart	Conservative	Penrith and the Border
Baroness	Glenys	Thornton	Labour
Dr	Sarah	Wollaston	Conservative	Totnes

 

Meeting Summaries

2013

• The next meeting will take place on 5th June 2013. It will look at access to the drug Bevacizumab (Avastin).
• 5th February 2013:  The group discussed the future of the Be Clear on Cancer Pilots, and Medical Innovation.  Guest speakers included Public Health Minister Anna Soubry MP, and Lord Saatchi.  Actions have included contact with Domain 1 Director for Reducing Mortality (NHS Commissioning Board) and Chief Executive of Public Health England

2012

• 30 October 2012: The group discussed ovarian cancer screening, and the forthcoming Be Clear on Cancer pilots for ovarian cancer. Speakers included Professor Usha Menon, Head of the Gynaecological Cancer Research Centre, University College London, Elizabeth Garret Anderson Institute of Women's Health, and Jennifer Benjamin, Early Diagnosis Lead, Cancer Policy Team, DH.  Actions included inviting new Minister to attend next meeting
• 11 July 2012: Annual General Meeting.
• 10 May 2012: The group discussed access to drugs. The speakers were Professor Jonathan Ledermann, Professor of Medical Oncology in University College London's Cancer Institute, and Sarah Woolnough, Director of Policy at Cancer Research UK. The group raised concerns over the supply of the drug Caelyx for women with advanced ovarian cancer and have written to the European Medicines Agency.
• 7 February 2012: The group discussed the challenges and opportunities in ovarian cancer research. Speakers were Mr Andy Nordin, Surgeon and Chair of the NCIN Gynaecological Clinical Reference Group and advisor to NCAT/DH,  and Professor Iain McNeish, Oncologist at Barts and the London, and Chair of the Ovarian Subgroup of the NCRI Gynae Cancer Clinical Studies Group. Actions from the meeting included writing to Chief Executive of Astra Zeneca, and to the Director of NHS Screening Programmes.

2010 APPG Activity

2011 APPG Activity

Target Ovarian Cancer provides secretariat duties for the group. Please note these meetings are not open to the general public. If, however, you are a woman who has ovarian cancer and would be interested in being invited to observe one of the meetings, or if you have general queries about the group and its work, please contact Frances Reid, Director of Public Affairs at Target Ovarian Cancer by clicking on the link or calling 020 7923 5470.

Westminster Hall Debate

APPG member Stuart Andrew MP secured a Westminster Hall debate on ovarian cancer on Wednesday 12th October 2011 between 0930 and 1100. 14 MPs spoke about the urgent need for action on improving awareness.  For more details including a transcript of the debate  click here. This resulted in a meeting between a delegation of APPG members and the Care Services Minister Paul Burstow MP, held on 29th November 2011.