PICTURE SPECIAL: Stark reality of Cancer statistics highlighted at Donegal conference

Relay For Life made a return to in-person activities with the very successful and uplifting Relay For Life Cancer Conference in Letterkenny.
The event took place in the Mount Errigal Hotel on Saturday, kicking off the tenth birthday year of Relay For Life Donegal.

PICTURES: THOMAS GALLAGHER

One important element of the Irish Cancer Society’s work that is funded by Relay For Life is research.
Director of Research with the Irish Cancer Society, Dr Rob O’Connor was one of the speakers at the conference. He praised his colleagues for their continued work against the very difficult backdrop of the pandemic.
“It would have been easier for them to give up or pull back but they didn’t,” said Dr O’Connor. “And I think that bears acknowledgement. We are resilient people. We are getting through. We are getting on. And to me that is one of the things that Relay brings out in us as well.”
Speaking about what has changed and been achieved in cancer research in the last ten years since Relay For Life began in Donegal, Dr O’Connor said: “Much has been done but there is a lot more to do and I think Relay in Donegal and around the country can play a really important role in shaping that future.”
He said it was a stark reality that cancer numbers had increased by about a third in the last ten years. One of the main reasons for this is that more people were living for longer.
On a more positive note, Dr O’Connor said that deaths from cancer had not increased at the same rate. He put this down to better treatment, better coordination of treatment plans and greater awareness of symptoms.
He praised awareness programmes in schools as well as screening programmes for their role in increasing survival rates.
“I would urge everybody to take part in screening, particularly bowel screening,” said Dr O’Connor.
“Bowel screening could save hundreds of more lives each year.
“Only four in ten people actually take up the free opportunity of screening. We need to get that up to ten in ten people.”
Dr O’Connor’s full talk and other highlights of the conference can be viewed on the Relay For Life Donegal Facebook page.