The UK has unveiled new collaborations with France, the US and Canada to share expertise and funding for cancer research.

Fifteen international fellowships to research new and improved cancer treatments will be funded through the collaborations, supported by £1.1 million of public money.

Launched by Health Secretary John Reid and French research minister Francois d'Aubert at the Entente Cordial Cancer Research Summit in London, the fellowships will go to researchers in the UK, France, USA and Canada.

The funding will provide researchers the opportunity to work in overseas laboratories where it is thought the exchange of ideas, techniques and therapies could help develop new and better treatments for cancer sufferers.    

Health Secretary John Reid said: "Cancer remains a top priority for the Government and we are making real progress in fighting one of Britain's biggest killers - since 1997 death rates for under 75s have fallen by over 10%. This new funding will mean that our top scientists can share their expertise and knowledge with cancer specialists in France, US and Canada to develop new and better treatments and help save even more lives."

The DH and L'Institut National du Cancer in France are each committing £225,000 a year to fund six UK/France fellowships. The UK government is providing another £340,00 to fund six UK/US fellowships and three US/Canadian posts, with joint funding from the US National Cancer Institute and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

The three-year fellowships are due to start in the autumn of 2005, with the UK National Translational Cancer Research Network (NTRAC)  administering the initiative.

Director of NTRAC professor David Kerr said: "One of the aims of NTRAC is to provide a forum for global learning and to improve collaborations with other countries such as the rest of Europe, the US and Canada. The joint fellowship scheme is one excellent way of meeting this aim."

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