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Toronto Cancer Prevention Coalition |
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The following piece on the Toronto Cancer Prevention
Coalition appeared in:
The Gallon Environment Letter
Canadian Institute for Business and the Environment
Fisherville, Ontario, Canada
Tel. 416 410-0432, Fax: 416 362-5231
Vol. 9, No. 6, March 20, 2004
Honoured Reader Edition
(This issue is supported in part by Industry Canada's
Sustainable Cities Initiative)
Cancer Prevention is as Important as Treatment
A new report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives suggests
that mainstream institutions make a fundamental mistake by placing
the "blame" for cancer almost entirely on lifestyle and genetics.
These institutions tend to focus on changing individual behaviour
such as eating more fruits and vegetables and stopping smoking, genetic
screening, identifying symptoms and treatment. The Canadian Cancer
Society rarely mentions environmental risk factors from pollutants.
An example of a better approach given by the report is the City of
Toronto Action Plan for Cancer Prevention Strategy. This includes
a section on occupational and environmental carcinogens. The City
of Toronto agreed to apply to "all City policies and activities, the
precautionary principle, the weight of evidence approach, pollution
prevention, just transition to protect jobs of workers affected by
changes in industrial processes, and the community's right to know."
The Action Plan was adopted by City Council in 2002.
The report recommends this type of approach which focuses on prevention
rather than damage control. Instead of just research on treatment,
more research on primary causes of cancer is suggested. And most important
is getting carcinogens out of the environment. To do this requires
more than science, but political, social and economic changes.
Chernomas, Robert and Lissa Donner. The Cancer Epidemic as a Social
Event. Winnipeg, MB: Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives - Manitoba,
March 2004. http://www.policyalternatives.ca
[Find Cancer Epidemic]
City of Toronto. Public Health. Toronto Cancer Prevention Coalition.
Toronto Cancer Prevention Coalition. Recommendations for an Action
Plan for Cancer Prevention in the City of Toronto. http://www.toronto.ca/health/resources/tcpc/index.htm
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