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While I’ll be raising money for my going bald for St. Baldrick’s for the next month plus before I do go bald, if you’re looking to make one last ditch effort at action, then this is the perfect way to do it. Better yet, join me. Make your own pledge to go bald and raise money for this worthwhile cause.
Are you still not convinced that you need to take action? Well, maybe these childhood Cancer statistics will help change your mind.
Facts About Childhood Cancer
- According to the ACCO (American Childhood Cancer Organization) 13,400 children ages birth – 19 will be diagnosed with some form of Cancer. That’s 1 in 300 boys and 1 in 333 girls. Do you like those odds? I sure don’t.
- On average 36 children are diagnosed with Cancer a day in the United States.
- On average 1 in 4 elementary schools has a child with Cancer. The average high school as 2 students who either currently have Cancer or have had Cancer.
- While the survival rate for Cancer has increased to 80% it doesn’t come without a price. There are late life side effects caused by the treatment which include things such as heart damage, secondary Cancers, lung damage, infertility, growth deficits, cognitive impairments, and hearing loss.
- The rate of children getting Cancer has increased .6% every year since 1975.
- Federal funding for childhood Cancer is minimal in comparison to what they’ll spend on adult onset Cancers like breast Cancer. The National Cancer Institute (NCI),who’s in charge of allocating funds for Cancer research, has actually been decreasing its spending on Children’s Cancer despite the increase in the number of children affected by it. In 2009 they allocated $240 million to children’s Cancer, but in 2011 it was down to $197 million. And yet in that same time period the funding allocated to breast Cancer research went from $572.6 to $631.2 million. So breast Cancer research gets more than 3 times the federal dollars that children’s Cancer receives.
- Only 4% of the NCI budget goes to childhood Cancer research.
- Pharmaceutical companies spend close to 0 on developing new drugs for childhood Cancer, but 60% of funding for adult Cancer.
- Half of all medications used to treat childhood Cancers are over 25 years old.
How shocking it is to know that the incidences of pediatric Cancers have increased over the last nearly 40 years and yet we’re still spending so little to do anything about it.
And with the government having their heads so far up their ass it’s not likely we’ll see a change there. So that’s why private funding is so very important in this matter. That’s why things like donating to St. Jude’s or organizations like St. Baldrick’s are so crucial to childhood Cancer. We need to take action and we need to take it now. Lets work on increasing the survival rate from childhood Cancer to 100%.
Still not convinced? Maybe the faces of the kids with Cancer will help convince you.
Image from Brennan’s Buddies.
Those are the faces of kids with Cancer. Maybe they are lost, maybe they are still here today, but they fought the fight with outdated medications and more strength and courage than any of us could imagine.
How about this 13 year old girl, Talia who died this year after a long 5 year battle with Cancer. This girl could be my own daughter. It shakes me to the core every time I see 1999-2013 because that is my oldest daughter’s year of birth. I shouldn’t live to see another child’s last day on this earth of mine. I can only imagine how lost her family must be feeling now.
Talia Castellano August 18, 1999 – July 16, 2013
And then let us not forget the little 9 year old girl, Kennedy. This is a child I know, I have met, I have seen overcome insurmountable odds. She is still here, Cancer free. But also likely suffering the effects of her Cancer treatment already. Of course we are so grateful she is still with us, but children shouldn’t have to suffer the way these children have had to suffer.
Look into the faces of these children and you tell them they aren’t worth it. They aren’t worth any amount of money you can spare in research. Take action today. You could save a child’s life.
You can make a donation to St. Baldrick’s today on this secure site. All money will go right towards the research of childhood Cancer.
