Charity Begins on the Net

If you or a loved one is suddenly faced with a diagnoses of cancer and you’re not quite sure what it all means or what it entails, you’re bound to feel a great deal of fear and confusion. There will probably be uncertainty thrown in as well just to mix it all up a bit. Your doctor will probably have explained things to you but it is more than likely that you were not taking it in. So what are you options now? Well there are many organisations out there that offer services to the community, or the world at large, regarding the dissemination of cancer information; they also provide support and care. It may feel like it, but these organisations are here to prove that cancer is not the end of the world; it is merely a new beginning.

Cancer Backup is an organisation that gives patients and families up to date information, practical advice and support. They aim to reduce the fear and uncertainty that surrounds patients and their families on first hearing that they have cancer. It was started in 1985 and originally started out as a national cancer information service. It soon developed into so much more. It was started by Dr Vicky Clements-Jones after she went through her own cancer experience and realised that there was a need for a service such as she began to provide. The website includes information on symptoms and side effects, eating well, relationships and communication, if someone else has cancer, advanced cancer, practical issues, organisations, UK patient information guide. There are articles for the site, treatment guidelines and information on controversial and difficult topics written especially for doctors. Nurses who work for the organisation provide information and support via email, telephone and letter to more than 50,000 patients and their families annually. The site offers loads more including a section on “How You Can Help”, which allows any one interested to get involved.

Marie Curie Cancer Care was established in 1948, which makes it one of the oldest and one of the largest organisations in the UK. There are more than 2700 nurses, doctors and other healthcare professionals caring for 25,000 cancer patients, free of charge. This means that they need to raise more than 100 million pounds annually to maintain their services. These services include running 10 hospices across the UK, 2 centres for palliative care research and the Marie Curie Research Institute, which looks into the causes and treatment of cancer. They are strong proponents for patients to be able to make the decision to be able to die at home rather than in a hospital bed. Statistics reveal that 70% of people would rather die at home. Instead more than 50% of cancer patients are still dying in hospital beds. 70% of all their income, that means 70% of 100 million pounds, comes from individual donations; the rest comes from the NHS.

On an international level there is the International Agency for Research on Cancer, which forms part of the WHO. It was formed in 1965. The major goal of the IARC is to identify the causes of cancer in order to adopt preventative measures. The emphasis of their research is on epidemiology, environmental carcinogenesis and research training. They do not focus on treatment at all. Their research ideas are based on the notions that 1) 80% of all cancers are linked to environmental factors and that makes them preventable 2) epidemiology plays a major role in cancer prevention and in the evaluation of prevention measures 3) geographical variations in cancer reflect differences in environment and international research is ideally placed to study this relationship between man and his habitat.

The International Network for Cancer Treatment and Research is a non-profit non-governmental organisation that was established in 1998, it is assisted by the National Cancer Institute. Their main aim is to assist developing countries with structured programme of research, collaboration, education and training and an increased understanding of the causes of the various types of cancer as well as predispositions to regionally important cancers. They also aim to increase survival rates and quality of life of cancer patients in developing countries. Their objectives include: 1) Capacity building in treatment and research areas for countries of limited resources. 2) Promote international collaboration and information sharing between countries that are more developed and countries that have limited resources. 3) Take advantage of the unique cancer research opportunities in developing countries.

All this information can be found on the following websites:
http://www.cancerbackup.org.uk/Home
http://www.mariecurie.org.uk
http://www.iarc.fr
http://www.inctr.org
There are countless more available on the web, all do good work. All need constant help and support. If you know of an organisation in your area remember that while money and things are always welcome, your time is often more precious than gold. So if you think that you have nothing to give, give and hour or two a week and that will be much appreciated.