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Gloria Hunniford "sickened" by 'I wish I had breast cancer' campaign 11.02.14

BROADCASTER Gloria Hunniford says she is "sickened" by a controversial advertising campaign that shows pancreatic cancer patients declaring they would rather have breast cancer.
The 'cancer envy' campaign by Pancreatic Cancer Action has caused a furore in Britain in recent days.
Ms Hunniford whose daughter Caron Keating died of breast cancer in 2004 at the age of 41, described the campaign as "insensitive and misguided".
"I feel almost sick when I read the words: 'I wish I had breast cancer'. Personally, I think it is a very insensitive and misguided way of going about raising awareness and raising funds," said the presenter.
"Of course I am coming from a deeply personal point of view but I watched my daughter battle breast cancer for seven years and then it spread to the bones. Believe me at no time would she have said (she) would prefer another form. She did not want it at all," Ms Hunniford (73) told 'Newsnight'. (Thurs)
She said that her charity, The Caron Keating Foundation, did not discriminate between cancer causes and awarded funding to help patients suffering from all types of the disease.
Irish Cancer Society figures show that 370 people are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in Ireland each year with the majority of cases in adults over the age of 60.
Former Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan died from the disease in 2011 at the age of 52. He was first diagnosed with the illness two years previously.
The Pancreatic Cancer Action billboard and video campaign in the UK, also shows a male patient declaring his wish for testicular cancer instead of pancreatic cancer.
The charity's chief executive, Ali Stunt, who is a pancreatic cancer survivor, defended the hard-hitting campaign saying its main aim is to highlight the disease’s poor survival rates.
"What we are not trying to do is to belittle any other cancer. Cancer is serious no matter the type and even for those cancers with five-year survival rates of 80-90 per cent people still die," Ms Stunt wrote in her blog.
"Cancer is the last thing you would wish on anyone you care about. Our advert is not stating that the person wishes they contract breast/cervical/testicular cancer, rather they wish they could swap pancreatic cancer for a cancer that will give them a better chance of survival."
The charity added in a statement: "Awareness is key to early diagnosis and this is particularly true for pancreatic cancer. In our case, despite the best efforts of ourselves and other pancreatic cancer organisations, for 40 years, pancreatic cancer patients in the UK have faced the same grim prognosis – only a three per cent chance of survival and an average life expectancy of less than six months.
"It is important to remember that the advert features real pancreatic cancer patients and all they want is a better chance of survival."
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