The Canadian Cancer Society's Daffodil Campaign

 On Thursday April 21, I had the opportunity to speak in response to a Ministerial Statement on the Canadian Cancer Society's Daffodil campaign, a month-long campaign to raise funds to help find better treatments and cures for cancer and to help those suffering from cancer.  My comments are below.

Daffodil Campaign

Mr. Gerrard: Madam Speaker, cancer can be a tragic, challenging and difficult disease which too often still ends in death from the cancer. The good news is that there is more hope than ever with existing and new treatments that deliver longer and longer sur­vival and in­creasingly higher and higher rates of cure.

      In Canada, much thanks is due to the Canadian Cancer Society and its efforts, including the Daffodil Campaign every year.

      When I began my internship and residency to be a pediatrician in 1971 at the Uni­ver­sity of Minnesota, there was no evidence that a child with acute lympho­blastic leukemia could be cured. It was considered a  death sentence. By the time I left my time as a physician, looking after children with blood problems and cancer, to enter politics in 1993, 75 to 80 per cent of children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia were being cured.

      Today, the rates of im­prove­ment and cure from treatment of all cancers have improved–some dra­mat­i­cally, some less so.

      One of the most difficult cancers to treat is and has been lung cancer. The gov­ern­ment of Manitoba should be doing much more to prevent lung cancer by reducing radon levels in homes, as well as in reducing smoking. The lifetime risk for lung cancer for those who are both smokers and who are exposed to radon is one person in three: very high, and much higher than somebody who is just a smoker only. This is why we need to be very active in reducing both.

      My ex­per­ience in Minneapolis working with in­dividuals who were at the leading edge of the research and treatment of cancer in children showed me how im­por­tant it is to have research and the clinical trials to test new options. It made a huge difference in the  treatment of children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia and is making a big difference in more difficult to treat cancers like lung cancer.

      The Daffodil Campaign raises awareness and funds to prevent cancer and to improve the lives and the outcomes for those who develop cancer. Thank you to the Canadian Cancer Society for all you do to help in this endeavour and to help Manitobans and Canadians in this respect.