Local MP pledges to beat bowel cancer in Dacorum
3rd February 2012
Mike Penning, MP for Hemel Hempstead, has pledged to support the national charity Beating Bowel Cancer to save lives from the UK’s second biggest cancer killer.
Mr Penning attended Beating Bowel Cancer’s annual Be Loud Be Clear parliamentary reception earlier this week where he found out the latest bowel cancer figures for his local area. In Hemel Hempstead, more people are diagnosed with bowel cancer and more people die from the disease than the national average.
Mike Penning MP said:
“One in eighteen people are diagnosed with bowel cancer and these local figures show that people in Hemel Hempstead 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.”
Mark Flannagan, Chief Executive of Beating Bowel Cancer said, “I am delighted that Mike Penning MP is supporting Be Loud Be Clear. 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.
To find out more about bowel cancer and to access the latest figures for bowel cancer in your area, by local authority and constituency, visit www.beatingbowelcancer.org .
Background:
Hemel Hempstead has 53 cases of bowel cancer and 23.1 deaths from the disease per 100,000 population compared to national average 46.1 cases and 17.3 deaths per 100,000 population.
