Denmark has become a cancer pioneer - this is why UK is lagging behind

Peter Bogelund looks exhausted. He huffs and puffs as his legs struggle to turn the wheels of his exercise bike.

Peter is 69 and is obese, the legacy of a life spent drinking, smoking and never doing any exercise.

A labourer since leaving school at 14, Peter is now in training for his life.

Four weeks ago, he was diagnosed with stage three bowel cancer and will need surgery.

But first he must undergo a punishing training schedule to prepare his body for the operation, training four or five times a week.

It will cut the risk of complications from surgery from 35% to below 20%.

The intervention is part of an advanced approach to treatment that has made Denmark a world beater in cancer care.

Some 25 years ago, Denmark was languishing at the bottom of nearly all the league tables for cancer survival rates - and was joined in its low ranking by the UK.

But then Denmark decided to act by introducing its first national cancer plan. It has had four more since then, making it five in 25 years. Each plan builds on the success of the last by identifying further areas for improvement in cancer care.

The introduction of AI modelling using tens of thousands of previous cancer patient records to identify patients like Peter is an example of this strategy.

Like the NHS, Denmark provides state-funded healthcare which is free at the point of use.

But long waits are rare, and its cancer survival rates keep on improving.

The country now has almost five times the number of CT scanners per million people than the UK does and 99% of cancer patients begin treatment within four weeks of their initial referral.

Denmark's plan in action

Signe Damgaard knows exactly how efficient Denmark's cancer treatment can be. It saved her life.

She was just a few months into a new relationship when she was diagnosed with advanced cervical cancer.

Just days after her diagnosis, Signe was fast-tracked onto her cancer pathway.

"In one week, I went to one doctor," she says. "The next week I was in surgery and after that, the doctor said 'it has spread'. You need chemo, and you need radiation as well."

The treatment ended any hope of having children. Signe's uterus, ovaries and fallopian tubes had to be removed. But she is grateful to be alive with her partner Peter still by her side.

Denmark's Kraeftplan I (National Cancer Plan I) was introduced in 2000.

Its second plan was not yet under way when Signe had her cancer diagnosis and treatment in 2009.

Signe says if she has one criticism of her treatment, it was the lack of support for her when her treatment finally ended. Denmark's most recent cancer plan addresses exactly this issue.

Consultant oncologist Dr Lena Saltbaek runs a "survivorship" clinic outside Copenhagen.

She leads an interdisciplinary team including oncologists, nurses, psychologists, and therapists to look at "what happens after the cancer journey".

"Each treatment can give certain late side effects," she says.

"So we often see patients who have fatigue, they have chronic pain, they have cognitive impairment, sleep disorders, maybe fear of cancer recurrence. Many have problems getting back to the labour market if they are still on the labour market when they have their cancer diagnosis."

The UK's declining care

While Denmark is looking at what happens to its cancer survivors after they end successful treatment, the UK is still struggling to speed up diagnoses and treatment.

The NHS is nowhere near its Danish counterpart in delivering timely and effective cancer care.

In November 2025, almost 30% of cancer patients on the NHS waited more than two months to start treatment for cancer after an urgent GP referral. That's twice as many as the 15% target.

And it's a trend that has been getting worse.

In 2014/15, the figure was 16.6%, in 2018/19 it was 20.9%.

Four years ago, at just 40 years old, Claire Wraight's life came to a stop.

She was about to attend an appointment to examine a lump on her breast. But like so many people who will stop themselves presenting early for an examination, Claire thought she "would be wasting" her doctor's time and would be considered a "hypochondriac".

She was right to attend. Claire's lump turned out to be grade 2 breast cancer, and she underwent surgery to have it removed. She thought she had been lucky because at two centimetres it was relatively small.

But 12 months later Claire suspected something was wrong. She had further tests and her worst fears came true.

Paramedics knocked on her door at 7am to tell her she had to go to A&E.

"I was on a drip for several days because my calcium levels had shot up so high," she says. "I was in a really bad way.

"They admitted me to the cancer ward while I was there…so alarm bells were ringing in my mind."

Claire's cancer had returned with devastating effect. It had spread to her liver and her bones, into her spine and pelvis.

It was now considered treatable but incurable.

She has been given between three and five years to live.

"I didn't even know if I was going to make it out of hospital," Claire says. "It was very traumatic, it was very terrifying, it was scary."

That fear is still present. Claire has to manage her anxiety, especially while waiting for scan results.

"You're just hoping for the best and I think, you know, living for every three months, I mean it sounds maybe a bit dramatic, but you don't know if you're still going to be alive".

The moonshot that cannot fail

On Wednesday, England's long overdue and much needed cancer plan will be published.

It's impossible to know if Claire would have had a better chance under Danish system.

But tens of thousands of other Danish patients have certainly benefited. Their data for survival rates proves it.

Jasper Fisker, the chief executive of the Danish Cancer Society, says the UK needs to think more long term with its strategy.

"This is not going to happen over five, six, seven years," he says.

"Maybe you can detect progress pretty fast, but overall, the major solution, the final solution will come maybe in 20 years."

The UK government has a successful cancer plan blueprint to follow. The Danes have been continually improving their cancer plan for 25 years.

NHS England can learn and apply almost all of those lessons from five plans into one right from the start.

Cancer has no single cure. But advancements in science mean people with the disease can live longer, more fulfilling lives.

But only if they are given the chance.

The Danes say this cancer plan is our moonshot. A once in a generation opportunity to get cancer care right.

It simply cannot afford to fail.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "Denmark has transformed cancer outcomes through successive national plans, and Health Minister Karin Smyth's visit last year gave us valuable insights into their approach.

"Our National Cancer Plan will speed up diagnoses and deliver cutting edge treatments to the NHS frontline."

(c) Sky News 2026: Denmark has become a cancer pioneer - this is why UK is lagging behind