Stephen Lewis concluded his People vs. Cancer speaking tour at Concordia last night. The former politician and UN ambassadorsaid students must join the fight against cancer.
One in three Canadians will be diagnosed with cancer. Half of these cases could be prevented. But as Stephen Lewis said the fight against cancer has met with “astonishing indifference.
“There’s a lot of money raised, but on the prevention front, we’re spending far less than we should be spending, and on environmental causes, we’re spending almost nothing at all. There’s something appalling about our inability to come together sufficiently to overcome the passivity and the rigidity with which diseases are dealt, and cancer in particular.”
His point was brought home by the disappointing turn out. Speaking at to a mostly empty auditorium, he called on universities to focus on root causes of cancer deaths, like poverty and the need for generic drugs.
Lewis also criticised Quebec’s recent move to export asbestos to developing countries.
“It is beyond belief that we are exporting death. And it is unimaginable that we are willing to sacrifice lives in developing countries to support a relative handful of jobs in the Canadian economy.”