REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MCALEESE AT THE INAUGURAL IRISH CANCER SOCIETY RESEARCH SCHOLARSHIPS
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MCALEESE AT THE INAUGURAL IRISH CANCER SOCIETY RESEARCH SCHOLARSHIPS IRISH CANCER SOCIETY OFFICES
Dia dhíbh a chairde. I am honoured to have been asked to present the 2009 Irish Cancer Research Fellowships and the inaugural Irish Cancer Society Research Scholarships. I am very grateful to John McCormack, Chief Executive Officer of the Irish Cancer Society for asking me to be part of this day of celebration and congratulation when we gather to honour scholars who are outstanding in the field of cancer research.
The word cancer is not a good news word. As a diagnosis it brings an agony of fears about our health and our mortality. Yet for many cancer patients today the advances in treatments and outcomes which have evolved and developed thanks to the insistent probing of researchers, means that the news may not be anything like as bad as was first thought. That research is not always confined to the laboratory and I congratulate the Irish Cancer Society on creating research bursaries which acknowledge the wide range of disciplines which have important information to contribute to the field of cancer research. Today’s new scholars and fellows are themselves indicative of just how vast a terrain cancer research covers. I give each of them my warmest congratulations and hope that the passion they have for their chosen field will be enhanced and refreshed by emerging as winners from such a very competitive and high calibre field of applicants. I thank them for making this crucial work their vocation. So many people rely on your intellectual curiosity and your care, your insistence on trying to improve treatments, services, survival rates, prevention strategies and illness management. Your passion, purposiveness and rigorous scholarship push us beyond the limitations of our ignorance to new levels of wisdom and insight. Yet your work needs resources to ensure that it happens and that it is effective.
The Irish Cancer Society is the largest voluntary supporter of cancer research in Ireland and is dedicated to promoting patient-relevant cancer research. Much of that money is raised the hard way by endless fundraising ideas and gimmicks. All of it is put to exceptionally good use including the investment of €1million this year in these research scholarships and fellowships.
Cancer affects large numbers of people every year from every stratum of society and every age group. Today it need not necessarily be the inevitable death sentence it once was. Some cancers have been tamed by treatment while others remain elusive, and yet more can be prevented or their risk reduced by lifestyle changes and choices that we are increasingly educated about and aware of. Nonetheless for the person diagnosed with cancer there is a tough journey in front of them and indeed their families. That is where the surefooted experienced support of the health care staff with whom they interact is so valuable. It is also where the Irish Cancer Society makes such a vital contribution, as friend, support, guide, adviser, encourager and educator.
Thanks to research we in this generation now know the risk of cancer associated with things like smoking, over exposure to the sun, certain types of diet, genetic factors, gender factors, and much more. Armed with that information each one of us can take and should take personal responsibility for keeping ourselves as healthy as it is in our own power to do. We also need to be quick off the mark in accessing diagnosis and treatment for the earlier the intervention the better the chances of a good outcome. And outcomes are improving literally month by month, thanks to the input into civic discourse and into treatments from the world of cancer research. Only last month researchers in University College Cork found an exciting link between the use of curry spice turmeric and a reduction in oesophageal cancer cells in the laboratory. It may open a valuable door to new treatments and it also makes us very proud to see Irish researchers authoring cutting edge, game-changing research which will impact not just at home but around the world.
Today’s fellows and scholars have the chance to change the future trajectory of cancer. It is a huge challenge, a heavy responsibility but also a marvellous calling and opportunity to put hope and health back into lives robbed of both by that word that most of us still fear.
Congratulations to you all and best wishes for the future. Go raibh míle maith agaibh.