Launch of the Get Personal Campaign on World Metastatic Colorectal Cancer Day
[27 September, 2016] Today is World Metastatic Colorectal Cancer Day. A day dedicated to raise awareness of the most advanced form of colorectal cancer, known as metastatic colorectal cancer; this is when the cancer has spread to other parts of the body, such as the liver or lungs.
Each year there are 1.4 million new cases and 694,000 deaths from colorectal cancer. Many of these deaths are caused because the disease is detected too late. Approximately 20% of people across Europe and the US are diagnosed when the cancer has spread and even more go on to develop metastatic colorectal cancer after having been diagnosed at an earlier stage. Regardless of where you live in the world, people diagnosed with metastatic colorectal cancer have no more than a 1 in 10 chance of surviving more than five years.
Deborah Alsina, Chief Executive of Bowel Cancer UK, said “With timely access to effective treatment and high quality care, people with metastatic disease can see their survival chances and their quality of life dramatically improve. But for too many patients, access to treatment is dependent on whether they have adequate insurance or if their public health system has approved specific treatments, rather than what their doctors and healthcare providers believe would benefit them most. Today, we are proud to have launched Get Personal along with partner charities from around the world to campaign for everyone to have access to effective treatment and best care irrespective of where they live”.
To coincide with this important day, Bowel Cancer UK, Bowel Cancer Australia, Colon Cancer Alliance (US), Colorectal Cancer Association of Canada, and Fondation A.R.CA.D. (France), have come together to launch the global Get Personal Campaign to make real change happen for people with advanced colorectal cancer.
Get Personal aims to increase survival rates, improve quality of life and reduce variation in access to best treatment and care for people living with metastatic colorectal cancer around the world.
We are committed to:
- Eliminating variation between and within countries so that everyone, irrespective of where they live, has access to the best treatment and care.
- Putting metastatic colorectal cancer firmly on the agenda of governments, health care providers and key decision-makers.
- Campaigning for further research to address gaps in knowledge and support the development of new, innovative and effective treatments.
- Raising awareness among patients, clinicians and policy-makers of the full range of tests and treatments to be made available.
By campaigning together and learning from each other, we know we can make a difference. Colorectal cancer does not recognise borders, and neither do we
Read our full campaign briefing here.
For more information on the campaign and to find out how to take part visit the Get Personal website www.getpersonal.global.
