GE and the Campaign to Control Cancer Aim to Increase Cancer Screening Awareness across Canada

Three-year cancer screening campaign to focus on awareness, education and advocacy

MISSISSAUGA, ON, March 19, 2012 /CNW/ - (NYSE: GE) GE Canada today announced a collaboration with the Campaign to Control Cancer (C2CC) to speed the fight against cancer across Canada through a national screening awareness campaign. Over the next three years, GE Canada will work with C2CC to help promote appropriate cancer screening, which can reduce the cancer death rate, and by detecting cancer before signs or symptoms appear, improve treatment effectiveness.

"One in three Canadians will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime*," said Elyse Allan, President & CEO, GE Canada. "Education, awareness and screening are critical in the fight against cancer. It is a disease that affects so many families, colleagues, customers and friends. At GE, we envision the day when cancer is no longer a deadly disease."

C2CC's national campaign strategy will come to life on three fronts - public awareness to educate Canadians on the life saving possibilities of screening, health professional outreach to encourage appropriate screening as part of Canadians' healthcare, and finally through calling for more and better access to population based screening programs for all Canadians.

"A large number of Canadians simply aren't taking part in cancer screening programs across the country when they need to be," said Dr. Brent Schacter, Chair of the Campaign Steering Committee, and Vice Chair of the board of directors, C2CC. "Our collaboration with GE Canada is an important step in building partnerships within the business community to help raise awareness and education for Canadians around the importance of cancer screening.

Today's announcement builds on GE's healthymagination commitment to create better health for more people by focusing on inadequate access, disparate quality and high costs around the globe. In September of 2011, GE launched a global commitment to help fight cancer by supporting improved care delivery to 10 million patients by 2020, increased access to cancer screening, global partnerships and a $100 million open innovation challenge to find and fund ideas to accelerate detection of breast cancer and enable more personalized treatment. The commitment also included a $1 billion investment over the next five years in cancer R&D programs to expand GE's suite of advanced technologies and solutions for cancer detection and treatment, beginning with breast cancer.

"At GE Healthcare, we have an exceptional portfolio of product solutions that helps diagnose cancer," said Peter Robertson, VP & General Manager, GE Healthcare Canada. "When you pair our innovative cancer technologies with C2CC's national screening campaign, we can help fight cancer in new and meaningful ways, directly with Canadians."

GE Canada's business leadership will also help convene a series of corporate breakfast events this year in four cities across the country, Montreal, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver, to engage and educate Canada's business community on the importance of cancer screening, and how corporate Canada can get involved.

*Source: http://www.health.gov.on.ca/english/public/pub/cancer/detection.html

About GE
GE (NYSE: GE) works on things that matter. The best people and the best technologies taking on the toughest challenges. Finding solutions in energy, health and home, transportation and finance. Building, powering, moving and curing the world. Not just imagining. Doing. GE works. For more information, visit the company's website at www.ge.com

In Canada, GE has operations across the country, including major manufacturing, sales and service locations with 7,000 employees. For more information on GE Canada, please visit www.ge.com/ca. You can follow GE Canada on twitter and YouTube.

About Healthymagination
Our "healthymagination" vision for the future invites the world to join us on our journey as we continuously develop innovations focused on reducing costs, increasing access and improving quality around the world. Headquartered in the United Kingdom, GE Healthcare is a unit of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE). Worldwide, GE Healthcare employees are committed to serving healthcare professionals and their patients in more than 100 countries. For more information about GE Healthcare, visit our website at www.gehealthcare.com.

About The Campaign to Control Cancer
The C2CC is a national coalition of more than 70 leading cancer organizations and survivors. C2CC is made up of cancer nurses, doctors, patients, families, advocates, providers, funders and researchers and representatives. The Campaign's mission is to put everything we know to work to prevent, detect, treat-and-control cancer. For more information on The Campaign to Control Cancer, visit the website at www.controlcancer.ca

 

Press Contacts 
Court Elliott
Director Communications
GE Canada
1.647.281.7073
[email protected]

Sarah Triantafillou
Communications Manager
GE Healthcare Canada
1.905.301.3815
[email protected]

Pat Kelly
CEO
Campaign to Control Cancer
1-416-260-5377
[email protected]