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Letter: Lung cancer stigma must be erased

Lung cancer has become stigmatized and for no good reason

Re: Lung cancer deserves recognition too, Oak Bay News, Nov. 18

Thank you very much for printing the letter about lung cancer awareness.

As one who lost a family member to this dreadful type of cancer, I had done some research into the whys and how-comes.

As mentioned in the letter, lung cancer has become stigmatized and for no good reason.

More people die from lung cancer than almost all types combined.

Lung cancer is not a “celebrity cancer” for want of a better term and as such receives less than seven per cent of all research funding. Who decides this is not quite clear but the various cancer societies take in donations and they decide where the funding will go. Lung cancer is at the bottom of that list. This is not to say great strides in research have not been made but not nearly as many as other cancers.

The stigma surrounding lung cancer should be erased and hopefully through education it will.

Paula Barnes

Oak Bay