Cancer-prevention campaign

Thanks to Dan Parrott for this heads-up.

There is a full page ad in today’s Globe & Mail run by the Campaign to Control Cancer.

Their ad states that in 2005 there will have been 149,000 cancer cases diagnosed in Canada, and of those 70,000 people will die. This appears to dwarf other health threats, like say, West Nile Fever. This group suggests that the existing cancer rates constitute a national health emergency.

Unlike many cancer campaings, they appear to be urging prevention, and especially the reduction of environmental pollutants and pesticides.

They have a petition that can be accessed on their website at www.controlcancer.ca

They have also posted Saskatchewan cancer information. We appear to have topped the list in per capita cancer incidents rates.

The stats are as follows:

Incidence and Deaths
. Every day, 13 Saskatchewanians will be diagnosed with cancer and 6 will die from cancer.
. An estimated 4,700 new cases of cancer and 2,300 deaths from cancer will occur in Saskatchewan in 2004.
. While cancer incidence in Saskatchewan has fluctuated moderately over the past twenty years, the number of new cases (male and female) has increased dramatically. This increase in numbers poses a grave and growing threat to the vitality of our health care system.
. Incidence rates for major cancer sites among men are higher in Saskatchewan than the Canadian average for all provinces.
. To put these data into local perspective, in the Premier’s riding of Saskatoon Riversdale an estimated 78 people will die of cancer in 2004 and 38 will get cancer. Looking ahead, of the 16,601 people currently residing in Saskatoon Riversdale an estimated 6,719 will get some form of cancer during their lifetime and 4,229 will die from cancer.

Reach and Impact of Cancer in Saskatchewan
. Cancer is the leading cause of premature death in Saskatchewan.
. The reach and impact of cancer on the government’s balance sheet extends far beyond the health portfolio to affect government tax revenue, personal incomes, and welfare payments.
. Of the 4,700 Saskatchewanians that will develop cancer in 2004, an estimated 2,165 will be between the productive working ages of 20 and 69 years.

Please consider visiting this website and signing their petition.