Petition Tag - chemotherapy

21st November 2012

The Australian Federal Government, Department of Health quietly announced the withdrawal of
70% funding for the chemotherapy drug - Docetexal.

Grave concern has been expressed by Health providers, insurers and consumers.

If this funding is withdrawn, this sets a dangerous precedent for any other cancer treatment or vital medical treatment.

We are protesting the withdrawal of this funding and any future funding for cancer treatments and life threatening illness treatments.

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At the end of June, 2012 the Board of Directors and CEO were directed to enact budgetary cuts, some of which are to the detriment of not only the community, but the patients as well.

Of particular concern is the plans to move the chemotherapy clinic from Orillia to Barrie, which would cause most of the cancer patients in Orillia and surrounding area such as Muskoka and some areas of Haliburton/Kawartha Lakes undue hardships, unnecessary stress, drastically increased travel times, and general detriment to the health, morale and well being of all the cancer patients, their friends and family, caregivers, concerned citizens, tax payers, donators and the community in general.

We are requesting that the chemotherapy clinic be kept active in Orillia as it presently is.

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There are more than 100 different types of brain tumours, depending on which cells within the brain are involved About 300 children are diagnosed with brain tumours every year, and as many as 5% of brain tumours occur as part of an inherited condition.

Unlike other forms of cancer this type is not as prominent in society and is forgotten about yet increasing numbers are being diagnosed & Unlike other organs, it's very difficult to remove parts of the brain without causing massive disruption to the control of body functions.

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PLEASE SIGN BELOW BEFORE SHARING WITH YOUR FRIENDS OR YOUR SUPPORT WILL NOT REGISTER!!

Retinoblastoma is a life-threatening eye cancer which develops in children from birth to around six years. The condition is often diagnosed late when the tumour/s have had time to grow extensively within the eye.

In the UK it is treatable but, often, more aggressive treatments are needed - in many cases the treatment used for these large tumours is to remove the whole eye (enucleation) sometimes with follow-up chemotherapy.

Children go on to endure invasive check-ups, initially under general anaesthetic, throughout childhood. Many children face the challenges of living with an artificial eye. The result of late diagnosis for many children is loss or partial loss of vision.

An early diagnosis would lead to a greater choice of treatment options for many children and more aggressive treatments may not be necessary.

The signs of retinoblastoma can be spotted by a parent. If a parent was aware of the significance of these signs they could seek medical help sooner, reducing the chance of the child losing an eye and therefore saving some sight.

There is currently no information provided by the Department of Health for parents in the Birth to Five book or website or on NHS Direct online which alerts parents that there may be a serious problem with their child’s eyes.

Since our campaign started however, every newly-printed Personal Child Health Record (known as the red book), will now warn parents to take action if they see one of the signs of retinoblastoma and the NHS Choices website has also now included information on the condition. With your support we can make sure NHS Direct and Birth to Five also publish this vital information.

There are a number of signs of retinoblastoma - amongst these are;
A white/yellow/orange reflex in the pupil/s, which may be noticed in artificial light or in flash photography.
A squint
A change to the colour of the iris in one eye.
A red and swollen eye with or without the presence of infection
An absence of ‘red eye’ in one eye in a photo.
Deterioration in vision.

Unlike other serious childhood illnesses, there may be no other obvious symptoms that the child has cancer. Only awareness of the signs will prompt the parent to seek help.

It is possible for a GP to do a simple, non invasive, 'red reflex' test to identify abnormalities in the retina and make a referral if found. Equally a red reflex test can be used to rule out serious illness if no abnormality is present and concerned parents can be reassured.

We propose simple changes to Department of Health information for parents, which would also alert the parent to other serious eye conditions such as nystagmus, cataract and Coat’s disease as well as retinoblastoma (childhood eye cancer) and give them the confidence to approach their GP with their concerns.

In a survey conducted by the Childhood Eye Cancer Trust in May 2011 with 1,001 parents of children under 6 years old, over 70% said they would like more information to be available. Now we need your support to help make this happen.

Department of Health publications are highly valued by parents and, of those surveyed, 75% of parents said they would look for information about serious eye conditions in the documents/sites mentioned above.

The Childhood Eye Cancer Trust
The Royal London Hospital
Whitechapel Road
London E1 1BB

0207 377 5578.
www.chect.org.uk

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Australian Dr John Holt's radiowave therapy is an alternative treatment for cancer that does not have side effects like chemotherapy.

There is a clinic in WA and one in Ireland. Jenny Barlow is trying to set one up on the East Coast of Australia to reduce waiting lists in Australia and also provide sick patients on the Eastern Seaboard with treatment as they can not travel to WA or overseas.

Radiowave therapy uses a specific frequency of 434 MHz (megahertz) in the UHF (ultra-high frequency) band to stress or activate cancer cells so that they can then be killed.

Dr Holt treated thousands of patients with one or other of his two radiowave therapies over a period of 30 years.

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