Strangford MP Jim Shannon MP attended a Westminster reception hosted by the charity Beating Bowel Cancer to support better outcomes for bowel cancer patients.
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Strangford MP Jim Shannon has joined the fight to reduce deaths from bowel cancer.[/caption]
On 28 January, he joined other Members of Parliament, bowel cancer patients, and health professionals to hear about the charity’s plans to deliver significant improvements in bowel cancer survival rates in the UK, with the aim of saving 4000 lives during the next five years.
Bowel cancer is the UK’s second biggest cancer killer but this doesn’t have to be the case.  If caught early enough,  over 90% of those diagnosed can survive more than five years. That figure drops to just 7% if they are diagnosed at a late stage, so early diagnosis is vital.
Mr Shannon said: “We all need to work to keep bowel cancer high on the agenda to ensure that the disease becomes a rare cancer killer rather than the second biggest cancer killer in the UK within the life of the next Government.
“If I am given the opportunity to be in parliament after the election I vow to do all I can to reduce bowel cancer deaths in my constituency, added Jim Shannon.
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