A Message from Ministers Dosanjh and Bennett

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month in Canada. As Minister of Health and Minister of State for Public Health, we strongly urge Canadian women of all ages to adopt healthy lifestyle practices to reduce their risk of developing breast cancer and to take advantage of early detection and screening programs.

This year an estimated 21,400 women will develop breast cancer and 5,300 women will lose their battle against this deadly disease. Prevention and early detection are some of the best defences we have against a disease that has touched so many of our lives.

Health Canada remains vigilant and dedicated in the fight against breast cancer. Through the Canadian Breast Cancer Initiative, Health Canada conducts ongoing programming in the areas of community capacity building, clinical practice guidelines, prevention, screening and palliative care. Health Canada also invests $3 million annually in the Canadian Breast Cancer Research Alliance to support high quality research on all aspects of the disease, and the Department is engaged in a broad collaborative effort to control cancer - the Canadian Strategy for Cancer Control.

All these efforts have helped mobilize an un-precedented array of committed stakeholders in the fight against breast cancer. In this time of health care system renewal, it is important that we build on this success and continue to work together on all fronts to improve the health of the people of Canada. Our shared prevention and promotion efforts now will help make our health care system sustainable and effective in the long run.

In this regard, the Public Health Agency of Canada, launched this year, will serve as a focal point for coordination, research and expertise for public health issues like breast cancer and will have strong linkages to provincial and territorial governments, public health stakeholders and partners.

We would like to take this opportunity to recognize all those who fight against this disease - those who have been personally affected, caregivers, researchers, health professionals, charitable organizations, and thousands of volunteers across the country.

Together we can defeat breast cancer.