You see the cute cancer kids on the Cancer Research Uk adverts all over TV, but how much do we really benefit from it?
Out of a £404million budget, childhood cancer only received £5.5million research funding in 2015/16 from Cancer Research Uk. This equates to a measly 1.33% funding, it is so unfair and we deserve so much more!
Due to the lack of funding, we can’t afford to raise funds for life-saving research and new treatments that children with cancer desperately need. Therefore, children with cancer have to receive adult treatments which are so harsh on our small bodies that they cause long-term side effects, such as hearing loss and heart problems. And in some cases even death. This is NOT acceptable!
Cancer research Uk are responsible for 60% of all kids cancer research taking place in the Uk. If they donated £5.5million in 2015/16 to childhood cancer research, our calculator tells us that overall, for the whole of the UK including all other research charities, childhood cancer gets less than £10million!
Cancer research UK, you are responsible for 60% of childhood cancer research, but giving us so little funding seems unresponsible to me. Face reality and help us kids, we deserve it as much as the adults!
I am very lucky to be NED. I am over the moon. However, I have stage 4 Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma, and that gives me a 50% chance of making it past the 5-year survival rate. It is hard to think about, because with more funding my perspective of survival could be much higher. What kind of childhood is it to have anxiety for every scan, to be scared that the cancer is going to come back? No child deserves this...
Essentially us kids are being featured on Cancer research Uk adverts to generate more donations that are unlikely to benefit us at all. Kids are supposed to be the future, but Cancer research Uk aren't raising enough funds to secure a future for children with cancer. Only 3 drugs have ever been developed for children's cancer, compared to hundreds upon hundreds of adult cancer drugs. Cancer research Uk, you need to step up and give children with cancer more funding, we matter too!
Please help children with cancer in the Uk by sharing this post, so we can raise more awareness to give children with cancer more than 1% and a better prospect of survival.
We can beat childhood cancer together!
