Daffodil Day back in bloom

CANCER Council are encouraging people to harness their flower power on Friday, 27 August for this year’s Daffodil Day.

Cancer Council Victoria is hoping to raise $690,000, and CEO Todd Harper said the organisation didn’t want to let the pandemic get in the way of their research investment.

“We’ve made such good progress over the last 30 years in cancer, in improving survival, getting better treatments, diagnosing cancer early,” he said.

“The last thing that we want to do is slow that momentum because of the effects of COVID.”

Mr Harper said the past two years were especially challenging for those with cancer as they were also “disproportionately” affected by COVID-19.

“The reason I say that is that during last year particularly and also this year, our healthcare system was disrupted and also we’ve seen cancer patients often separated from loved ones because of COVID rules that are in place,” he said.

“It’s made it a really difficult time for cancer patients.

“We take thousands of calls every year through our Cancer Council 13 11 20 service which is run by cancer nurses and we’re seeing longer calls, more complex calls as we help people affected by cancer through their experiences.”

People are being encouraged to donate to the appeal at daffodilday.com.au, or host an online yellow fundraiser event with friends, family or work colleagues.

“Cancer Council is already the largest not for profit funder of cancer research and it’s campaigns like Daffodil Day that help us to continue that important work,” Mr Harper said.

The organisation anticipates a 43 per cent increase in the number of Victorians diagnosed with cancer over the next 10 years, with that number in line with their expectations due to an ageing and growing population.

“For us it’s really important to make sure that we’re investing now to be able to invest in research and prepare for that increase in demand that we’re likely to see in the future.”