Steve is helping to raise the profile of the fight against Bowel Cancer this Christmas.
The MP spoke out as new figures show around 4,100 of his Winchester constituents will develop bowel cancer in their lifetime.
At today’s rates, half of them could die, yet this common cancer is preventable and curable.
Steve said: “This cancer is little talked about yet nearly 40 of my MP colleagues could also develop this common cancer and almost half could die.
“This is why MPs are leading a campaign to encourage everyone in our constituencies to get to know the key symptoms of bowel cancer, to find out if they are eligible for the NHS screening programme for bowel cancer and to act quickly on key symptoms and screening.”
The campaign is being led by Lynn Faulds-Wood, a survivor who cut back her career in television to increase awareness of the disease, which claimed the life of World cup-winning England captain Bobby Moore back in 1993.
The Dept of Health has reported that we are lagging behind European countries for diagnosis and survival from bowel cancer. This is causing thousands of unnecessary deaths with the resulting toll of suffering which affects families, friends and colleagues.
Steve added: “I have attached a Cut-Out-And-Keep Guide to the symptoms of this common cancer plus a poster showing how easy it is to take the NHS screening test – the test is being sent to people from 60-69 in England yet over half the men throw away this free potential life saver.
“Many thousands of cancers have already been found at an earlier stage by the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening programme. Please encourage everyone you know to find out more about this preventable cancer and to act on symptoms and screening.”
Pictured (front); Lynn Faulds-Wood, campaigner against bowel cancer (courtesy of cms.gm.tv)
More information...
Find out more by visiting Lynn’s website, http://www.bowelcancer.tv/. You can also access a poster and a guide to symptoms via the PDF reader below.