Mr. Speaker, I want to applaud the member, the good doctor from St. Paul's. I rise today to add my support to a very worthwhile motion to declare the month of June as leukemia awareness month.
As the son of a leukemia survivor, I know how important this motion is. It really touches my heart. My mother, thank God, has been in remission for six years. Not only did it take the good efforts of the medical fraternity and the research which has been done so far on leukemia, but also the caregivers and the families, which provided the strength and the love that allowed my mother to survive. The quality of life may not be perfect, but it is a very good life and one that we would hope for every person who has been stricken with leukemia.
Leukemia affects all ages, both sexes and every background. Every 10 minutes another child or adult dies from leukemia or a related cancer. In 1999, as we have already heard, 3,000 Canadians were diagnosed with leukemia and 2,100 died of this devastating disease. Leukemia is the number one killer of children. Leukemia is a destroyer of families and as we have heard a devastator of dreams.
Despite these staggering odds, as the doctor, the member for St. Paul's, and others have said, we are winning important battles in the fight to save lives. With the best treatment 73% of our children with childhood leukemia will now survive. That is a great step forward. The overall survival rates have doubled in the last 30 years.
These are important victories with human faces. Yet we must continue to work to win the war. Yes, we all agree that medical research is an important component. We must provide Canada's researchers with the support and the financial resources they need, as well as the opportunity to be able to research in Canada and stop this terrible disease.
We must raise public awareness. This is what June is all about. It is to make it possible for people to become aware of those around them who have leukemia and to make it possible for the volunteer sector to raise the moneys along with governments to be able to continue their fine work on research. It is also an opportunity to thank those men and women in the hospitals and in the homes who provide the love, nurturing and caring that are important parts of the well-being of people.
While medicine is very important, caring and compassion are also important. I must give accolades to those people, for example, Dr. Barr at University Hospital in London, Ontario, and those men and women who looked after my mother and made it possible for her to continue, as so many hundreds and thousands of people work very hard to do.
This motion is essential so that the public understands and knows our commitment as a parliament to the eradication of leukemia and that we will continue to work with all our partners in our communities to ensure that we can stop this disease and make it possible for all those people to dream the possible dream and not to have to suffer the affliction of leukemia.