To mark the end of Mouth Cancer Awareness Week which started on Sunday 12th November the Mouth Cancer Foundation is holding a giant sponsored walk which will take place in London. Hundreds of walkers from across the country are already signed up to take part in the free 10k sponsored Mouth Cancer Walking event designed to raise awareness of Mouth Cancer.
The Eastman Dental Institute along with King?s College London Dental Institute has joined forces with the Mouth Cancer Foundation in a bid to combat this dreadful disease. The Oral Medicine Unit of the Eastman Dental Institute – Anne Hegarty, Maureen Sweeney, Linda Hamilton, Shahid Chaudhry, Esther Hullah and Stefano Fedele – provided manpower for free mouth cancer screening at the Mouth Cancer Walking Event in Hyde Park on the 19th of November 2006. the manpower for a mobile dental unit which will offer free mouth cancer screening to all walking participants in Hyde Park during the walk. The Department of Community Special Care Dentistry of King?s College London Dental Institute provided their mobile dental unit for the event.
Every 5 hours someone will die from Mouth Cancer. Mouth cancers have a higher proportion of deaths per number of cases than breast cancer, cervical cancer or skin melanoma. In the UK, there has been a 19% increase in cases from 3,673 in 1995 to 4,405 in 2002 and 13,000 people in the UK are currently living in the shadow of this debilitating disease. The mortality rate from mouth cancer is just over 50% due to late detection. These are the shocking facts from the Mouth Cancer Foundation who are determined to raise awareness for the cancer about which little is known.
Professor Crispian Scully, Dean of the Eastman Dental Institute says “Oral cancer is the 8th most common cancer in the world; is increasing; and is best combated by avoiding tobacco, alcohol and betel; and by early detection”.
The 10K walk included over 400 participants, who together with all on-lookers were offered a free assessment of their mouths.