Mr. Speaker, each year approximately 10,000 Canadians will be diagnosed with primary or metastatic brain tumour.
The Canadian Alliance of Brain Tumour Organizations is in Ottawa this week to raise awareness of the impact of this most debilitating and too frequently fatal disease. Brain tumours afflict young and old alike. Early diagnosis of course is crucial to treatment, yet the incidence and rate of death from brain tumours has increased dramatically since 1960.
Regrettably, reliable information regarding brain tumours is both scattered and uncoordinated. This makes it difficult to make proper assessments or to prepare proposals for research, and research is required. Some estimates put the number of new people diagnosed with primary brain tumours at above 5,000 per year.
Health Canada and the Canadian Cancer Society need to set aside resources in order to establish an effective data gathering system. As well, I encourage Health Canada, the Medical Research Council of Canada and other funding agencies to allocate moneys for research in combating this most deadly and debilitating of diseases.