How the Mail has fought for better care for almost 20 years

TWO decades ago the Mail transformed the country’s approach to the cancer no one wanted to talk about.

Launched in 1999, our Dying of Embarrassment campaign massively boosted the profile of the taboo disease. With the help of our generous readers we raised £1million to boost research and support.

We donated this to Prostate Cancer UK, which at the time was the only charity dedicated to fighting the disease. Our campaign also raised awareness and encouraged men to seek help for symptoms they had been trying to ignore.

Many wives told us they had put the newspapers down in front of their other halves and urged them to see a doctor. The campaign sparked debates in Parliament on how to fight the disease and improve our low survival rates.

In December 1999, Tory MP Andrew Rowe stood up in the Commons to reveal how he was battling prostate cancer.

He urged the then Labour government to address the ‘enormous discrepancy’ between the money spent on breast cancer and his own illness.

Politicians – led by former prime minister Tony Blair – began to take the disease more seriously and committed £1million toward research.

One of the highlights of the campaign was securing the backing of the late boxing champion Muhammad Ali.