Thursday, 25 November 2010

East Belfast MP Naomi Long has joined celebrities such as Ricky Gervais to raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of lung cancer and of what needs to be done to improve outcomes for patients and mark National Lung Cancer Awareness Month this November.

Each year 39,750 people are diagnosed with lung cancer in the UK. the disease is te UK’s largest cancer killer, with one person with lung cancer dying every 15 minutes. Despite this, awareness of the signs and symptoms of lung cancer is low and more than two thirds of patients are diagnosed at a stage when curative treatment is no longer an option.

Ms Long said: “There are, on average 61 diagnoses of lung cancer in each UK parliamentary constituency every year. I commend the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation’s work in supporting patients with lung cancer and campaigning for research funding and awareness raising. it is vital that we all take action to raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of lung cancer if lung cancer outcomes are to improve.”

Dr Rosemary Gillespie, Chief Executive of the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation said: “We are delighted that Naomi Long has chosen to mark Lung Cancer Awareness Month and support our campaign to raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of lung cancer.”