FACING THE SUN
Skcin and Sanofi Genzyme co-host a skin
cancer awareness event to MPs and Peers at the House of Commons.
On the 10th July 2019, Skcin proudly
presented our work to over 30 MPs at Westminster during the ‘Facing The Sun’
event, kindly sponsored by Sanofi Genzyme. Our mission was to raise awareness
amongst parliamentarians by highlighting the prevalence of both melanoma and non-melanoma
skin cancers in the UK and the work we are doing nationally to combat this
almost entirely preventable disease.
With
skin cancer rates continuing to rise dramatically, annual costs to the NHS
estimated to be in the ‘hundreds of millions’ and thousands of lives lost
unnecessarily every year, the importance of having engaged and well-informed
parliamentarians to support national efforts in this arena is crucial.
During
the two hour drop in event, MPs engaged with Skcin to have their personal UV
photographs taken, chat to the team and take away vital information outlining
why our work is perfectly aligned with the Health Secretary’s pending Green
paper, ‘Prevention is Better Than Cure’.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/health-secretary-launches-prevention-is-better-than-cure-vision
Marie Tudor, CEO of Skcin said: “
The high turnout from Members of Parliament and Peers was a great success
– particularly given the unpredictable nature of any event held in
parliament and at a time of such government turmoil! We felt privileged to have
been given the opportunity to join forces with Sanofi Genzyme to deliver such a
well-attended event, that subsequently witnessed lots of media activity from
many MPs.
In a parliamentary debate earlier this year, the
former Deputy Secretary of Health, Steve
Brine called for ‘Blue Sky thinking’ when it comes
to the prevention of skin cancer and states that ‘Right across government, I
want us to be working with all those who have a role in influencing health:
communities, employers, industry, local government, schools and
charities’. At Skcin, we strongly believe that our pioneering work in educational
intervention across all these fields offers the ‘blue sky thinking’ called for
when it comes to tackling this major public health concern and we were
delighted by the interest and support offered”.
Dr Henry
Featherstone, Director of Public Affairs, Sanofi UK added: “We are
delighted to have co-hosted Facing the Sun with Skcin, who deliver
important work to educate the public on skin cancer prevention. By supporting
parliamentarians to see the signs of sun damage first-hand, Facing the Sun
brought home the need for policymakers to take action on improving
skin cancer prevention, detection and treatment. Sanofi Genzyme is committed to
driving improved awareness of skin cancer and supporting all those affected
through their health journey.”
If you wish to support our mission and ongoing lobbying please get in touch.
Marie.tudor@skcin.org
No comments:
Post a Comment