WAKAW — April is Cancer Awareness Month in Canada, highlighted by the Canadian Cancer Society’s Daffodil Campaign, which raises funds for cancer research and offers hope to millions affected by cancer.
The Canadian Institutes of Health Research’s Institute of Cancer Research collaborates with organizations like the Canadian Cancer Society (CCS) to support transformative cancer research in Canada.
Cancer remains the leading cause of death in Canada. In 2020, an estimated 19.3 million new cancer cases and nearly 10 million cancer deaths occurred across the world. By 2040, 16.4 million people are expected to succumb to this disease globally. Approximately two in five Canadians will be diagnosed with cancer during their lifetime, and one in four will die of their disease. (Research Priority Plan 2024-2029 CIHR; https://cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/53771.html)
Daffodil Month, a Canadian tradition for more than 65 years, is the Canadian Cancer Society’s (CCS) signature fundraising initiative held annually in April. Donations fund world-leading, innovative cancer research, critical support programs and advocacy with governments to bring about healthy public policies that benefit the health of all people in Canada.
In 1956, CCS Toronto volunteers used daffodils to decorate tables for a fundraising tea and distributed daffodils in local restaurants. As recipients of the daffodils asked how they could donate to support the cause, the volunteers realized that the daffodil could be not only a symbol of hope but also a powerful fundraising tool.
This led to the first Daffodil Days in 1957. Toronto volunteers raised more than $1,200 from selling daffodils that year, and the connection between the daffodil, spring’s first flower, and the hope that cancer could be beaten was cemented in Canadian culture. Daffodil Days events spread throughout Canada and were adopted by cancer organizations in other countries, including the American Cancer Society, the Cancer Council of Australia and the Irish Cancer Society.
According to CCS, the survival rate in Canada (for all cancers combined) is now around 63 per cent compared to barely 25 per cent in the 1940s. For some types of cancer, the survival rate is now 90 per cent or higher. This considerable increase can be largely attributed to advancements in the most promising research across the entire cancer continuum (prevention, diagnosis, treatment and living with and beyond cancer), with funding from Daffodil Month significantly contributing to this progress, but more support is needed.
Finding ways to fight cancer has been at the forefront of the medical profession in Saskatchewan for nearly 100 years. The Canadian Cancer Society (CCS) was officially formed in 1938, but the seeds of the organization were planted in 1929 when the Saskatchewan Medical Association formed the country’s first cancer committee.
After visiting “disorganized and fragmented” cancer clinics and hospitals in the United States, two members of Saskatchewan’s Cancer Commission realized that a successful program had to begin by engaging the support of the whole medical profession. As a result, cancer clinics were established in Regina in December 1931 and in Saskatoon in January 1932. In 1932, Saskatchewan established “one of the oldest cancer data registries in the world,” says Dr. Jon Tonita, president and CEO of the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency.
Then, in 1951, under Dr. Harold E. Johns and Sylvia Fedoruk, the world’s first cobalt radiation therapy treatment machine was manufactured and installed in Saskatoon.
“The history and legacy of the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency is the envy of cancer organizations around the world and something that we can all be proud of,” says Tonita.
Whether donating through the Daffodil Campaign, Walk for Cancer fundraisers or other events, with more than 6,500 newly diagnosed cancer cases in Saskatchewan each year, the Cancer Foundation of Saskatchewan, the fundraising arm of the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency, says now is the time to act.
