Mr. Speaker, the objective of the breast cancer awareness campaign is to inform and encourage dialogue between women and those around them concerning the disease of breast cancer. The Canadian Cancer Society and the Quebec Cancer Foundation are using the month of October to remind women of the importance of screening.
This is the type of cancer that affects the largest number of women in North America, England, Denmark, the Czech Republic and China. According to the latest statistics, 19,300 women are at risk of developing the disease in the next year, and 5,300 of them will die of it. Since 1991, the death rate for breast cancer has dropped by 6.3% in Quebec, thanks to the effectiveness of treatments and the distribution of information on early breast cancer detection techniques.
In this eighth edition of Breast Cancer Month, I encourage everyone to wear the pink ribbon or the lapel pin that symbolizes hope, and ultimately victory, over this disease.