Groundbreaking Campaign -- Leaders of the Lung Cancer Free World(SM) -- Created to Bring Overdue Public Attention to Nation's #1 Cancer Killer
Leaders Campaign Using Unique Mix of PR, Print and Digital Advertising To Spread the Word on Lung Cancer
Open Letter Calls on President Obama and Speaker Boehner to Declare War on Lung Cancer
Women Asked to Focus on Lung Cancer - the Leading Cancer Killer of Women - With the "Focus, Energy and Conviction" Brought to the Breast Cancer Fight
Campaign Principal Says: "Greater Government and Health Care Industry Attention Is Critical, But We Can All Be Leaders of A Lung Cancer Free World"
Leaders' Website Offers Portfolio of Advocacy, Engagement and Donation Opportunities From Three of the Nation's Leading Lung Cancer Non-Profits
NEW YORK, Nov. 1, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Leaders of the Lung Cancer Free World(SM), a groundbreaking campaign designed to generate greater public awareness and understanding of lung cancer, launched here today with an ambitious communications strategy including a major focus on women, a strong presence in digital media and an open letter to President Barack Obama and Speaker of the House John Boehner.
"Lung cancer will kill 160,000 Americans in 2011, three times more than the next most deadly cancer. For decades, lung cancer has been allowed to rage unchecked," said initiative co-founder Rob Densen. "The five-year survival rate of 15% is, basically, where it was four decades ago. That is no longer acceptable."
Densen said he hoped the campaign would represent a "tipping point" in public awareness and understanding of the disease.
Awareness and Action
Research conducted in conjunction with the launch of the campaign revealed a distinct lack of public awareness and understanding of lung cancer.
Of 1,005 adults surveyed by the national polling firm of GfK Roper Public Affairs, 72% either misidentified the cancer that kills the most Americans every year or had no idea what it was. Just under two out of three Americans (64%) said they would be at least somewhat surprised to learn that many people who get lung cancer never smoked. In fact, up to 30,000 Americans who never smoked will be diagnosed with lung cancer in 2011.
Ironically, close to half of those surveyed (48%) said they know someone who has been diagnosed with or died of lung cancer.
"It's not so much that the American public doesn't care about lung cancer; it's that we're either unaware or in denial," Densen said. "It's as if there is a serial killer loose in our community and everyone is looking the other way."
Awareness and understanding is even worse when it comes to lung cancer and women. Better than 9 in 10 Americans (93%) misidentified the leading cancer killer of women or had no idea what it was. Only 7% of Americans (including only 8% of women) knew lung cancer was the leading cancer killer of women (49% thought breast cancer was). In reality, lung cancer will kill close to 80% more women this year than breast cancer.
"At the end of the day, what we have with lung cancer is a failure to communicate – or at least to communicate well," Densen said. "There is a lot of misinformation, misperception, and stereotyping attending lung cancer. The result is that the biggest and most insidious cancer killer of all runs rampant. It's time to put an end to lung cancer's free reign."
The interviews for the national poll were conducted via telephone between Oct. 7 and Oct. 9, 2011 among adults at least 18 years of age living in the continental U.S. Results were weighted by age, gender, education and region to ensure reliable and accurate representation of the general population. The margin of error for results based on the total sample is +/-3 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.
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SOURCE Leaders of the Lung Cancer Free World
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