On World Pancreatic Cancer Day, 15 November, under the banner “Take Action. Demand Better.” organisations around the world called for more attention, awareness and progress to help patients fight and survive this disease.
Pancreatic cancer is a cause that I have spent many years passionatly advocating the need for change in the way we approach this disease. I have also championed greater collaboration and consensus. My advocacy was born of the loss of two men, one a great fiend, the other I never got to meet.
The friend was Professor Robert Sutherland, lost his life to this awful disease, in 2012, only months after he opened the Kinghorn Cancer Centre, of which he was the inaugural director. I never Philip Hemstrich. I did, however, have the great pleasure of meeting Jane Hwmastrich through a pancreatic cancer fellowship she wished to establish in her husband’s name that I was able to facilitate. In early 2015 Jane, believing, as I did in the power of a united voice, asked me to try again to bring the various pancreatic cancer groups together. So try I did, and this time it worked.
The various organisations accepted my invitation to come together to discuss opportunities. At that meeting, this unique collaboration of organisations and individuals agreed to come together as a collaborative voice driven to raising awareness of pancreatic cancer in Australia.
It was in this spirit of collegiality and collaboration that on the eve of World Pancreatic Cancer Day 2015, I was in the Jubilee Room in NSW Parliament to hear the Hon. Jillian Skinner MP, Minister for Health, launch the Pancreatic Cancer Alliance with Patron, Tracey Spicer. I remember standing at the back of the Jubilee room, listing to the speeches and feeling a great sense of pride in what I had, with the encouragement of Jane, been able to achieve. It remains today a highlight of my working life.
From day one the alliance had momentum, and it is an example to our standing that three members organisations attended the inaugural World Wide Pancreatic Cancer Coalition in Chicago in 2016.
In 2017 at the request of the alliance, I utilised almost every contact I could muster to get face-to face-time with Sydney Opera House CEO, Lousie Herron, with a requests to turn the sails purple to mark that year’s world pancreatic day. The request was granted and the image of the sails purple lead that years campaign.
In 2018 more than 70 organisations from 30 countries and six continents united to raise awareness and inspire action on World Pancreatic Cancer Day.
I look forward to the day when we have to cancel World Pancreatic Cancer Day as the disease has ben cured. Until then, please save the date – Thursday, November 21, 2019 – and take action and Demand Better. For Patients. For Survival.