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The Wrong Question

A lot has happened in the year since we first launched the Stop Asking the Wrong Question campaign to rally Canadians to end the blame and shame of lung cancer.
 
We lost over 21,000 Canadians to lung cancer. That number continues to grow by about 58 people every single day.
 
Thousands more were diagnosed with lung cancer in the last year too. There would have been more had the COVID-19 pandemic not continued to grip the world. It compelled a lot of people who have symptoms to avoid getting checked. And, it brought the diagnosis processes to a near halt with infection-prevention control measures.
 
What hasn’t changed is the stigma associated with lung cancer because it’s still seen as a “smoker’s disease.” It’s not and the judgement implies some people deserve to get sick. That’s wrong and unfair. Without exception, everyone facing cancer deserves the same compassion and care.
 
Throughout November, Lung Cancer Awareness Month, we’ll once again share stories of Canadians impacted by stigma at thewrongquestion.ca and urge Canadians to stop asking if people with lung cancer smoked and start asking the right questions like why lung cancer is by far the largest cancer killer but is the least funded or why survival rates have barely improved in decades. We also again present the urgent challenges in the healthcare system with solutions to help.
 
Please join our mission to remove the unfair barriers and burden stigma creates for people with lung cancer to give them the same fighting chance as anyone else facing a cancer diagnosis. A great place to begin is by downloading our joint report to learn more.