Mark Francois, MP for Rayleigh and Wickford, recently attended Cancer Research UK’s parliamentary event to discover more about the power of research which, every week, saves more than five times as many lives as there are seats in the chamber of the House of Commons.
This astonishing fact means over 2,800 people will survive cancer every week thanks to research.
Commenting on the event, Mark Francois said:
“It’s a real eye-opener to visualise the number of lives saved in terms of seats in the House of Commons. It is truly inspiring to see what research can achieve. That’s why I am backing Cancer Research UK’s campaign to make every moment count in the fight against cancer and I’m encouraging everyone to join me.”
Every year around 30,300 people in the East of England and more than 330,000 people in the UK are diagnosed with cancer. Thanks to research, survival rates have doubled in the last 40 years. This means that 45 per cent of those people will survive the disease for more than 10 years.
Cancer Research UK’s Head of Policy, Sara Osborne, said:
“It’s great to have Mark Francois MP’s support to highlight the power of research in saving lives and to raise awareness of how much more we need to do to ensure no-one’s life is cut short by cancer.
Although more people are beating the disease than ever before, survival rates in the UK still lag behind the best in Europe for nearly all common cancers. This must change and that’s why we need everyone to back our campaign for improvements in all areas of the patient’s journey, from earlier diagnosis to access to the best treatments.”
For more information on how to get involved, visit cruk.org