I recently spoke at Beating Bowel Cancer’s annual ‘Be Loud Be Clear’ parliamentary reception where I found out the latest bowel cancer figures for the Leigh area. In Leigh more people are diagnosed with bowel cancer and fewer people die from the disease than the national average.
One in eighteen people are diagnosed with bowel cancer and these local figures show that people in Leigh must take bowel cancer seriously. I hope that by supporting Beating Bowel Cancer’s campaign I can encourage people in my constituency to be loud about bowel cancer and be clear on the symptoms of the UK’s second biggest cancer killer.
I was joined at the reception by Mark Flannagan, Chief Executive of Beating Bowel Cancer who said, “Bowel cancer claims a life every 30 minutes in the UK but it but it can be beaten. No matter what the figures say for your local area, by working together to raise awareness, we can beat bowel cancer.”
Be Loud Be Clear 2012 coincides with the launch of Be Clear on Cancer, the first NHS national bowel cancer awareness campaign. Bowel Cancer is the UK’s second biggest cancer killer yet it can be beaten. If diagnosed early, over 90% of bowel cancer patients could be successfully treated compared with less than 7% of patients diagnosed with advanced bowel cancer .
*Leigh has 48.9 cases of bowel cancer and 16.6 deaths from the disease per 100,000 population compared to national average 46.1 cases and 17.3 deaths per 100,000 population
