Childhood cancer can be beaten

September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Every year, almost 950 children under 15 are diagnosed with cancer in Canada.

We believe that one child with cancer is one too many. In addition to raising awareness, we are investing heavily in Canada’s best childhood cancer research and providing families with vital support programs so they do not have to face cancer alone.

We are the largest national charitable funder of childhood cancer research in Canada and have invested over $50 million in cancer research over the last 15 years, supporting more than 170 research projects. And we have seen progress. In the late 1980s, the five-year survival rate for childhood cancers was 71 per cent. Today this has risen to 83 per cent. Investments in research mean childhood cancer can often be detected earlier and better treatments can be offered.

Through donations, this summer, 10 Prince Edward Island children living with cancer were able to attend Camp Goodtime in Nova Scotia where they could enjoy a kids’ camp get away while connecting with other kids in the region living with cancer. The P.E.I. community deserves tremendous credit for their generous support of our various fundraising initiatives that all make the research and programs possible.

Childhood cancer is still the number 1 cause of disease-related death in Canadian children. And 2 out of 3 childhood cancer survivors suffer long-term side effects from their treatment. This September, we ask P.E.I. to help us continue our work, so that fewer children will have to face cancer.