SAM ROWLANDS Rowlands, Member of the Welsh Parliament for North Wales, helps raise awareness of a rare form of cancer.
Mr Rowlands, Shadow Health Minister, recently attended a drop-in event at the Senedd showcasing a unique exhibition of sculptures which have been created to drive greater awareness of a specific class of rare blood cancers – myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs).
He said: “I was delighted to join fellow members and see the large educational sculptures which had been on tour across the UK and were in Wales to mark the end of Blood Cancer Awareness Month.
“It was interesting and informative to meet with representatives from Novartis Pharmaceuticals UK who organised and funded this event and the MPN10 disease awareness campaign.
“I am always pleased to support any moves to increase awareness of any diseases and it was good to see the innovative way this particular form of cancer had been highlighted.
“Much more needs to be done to improve survival rates of people suffering with blood cancer here in Wales and it is certainly an issue I will be taking up in the Welsh Parliament in the future.”
MPNs are slow-growing blood cancers that originate in the bone marrow and affect approximately 4,100 people in the UK each year. The exhibition focuses on the common symptoms associated with these types of cancer.
However, as these symptoms can be easily confused for other things, such as old age or even just feeling a bit under the weather to raise greater awareness of this group of blood cancers, Novartis, alongside the patient advocacy group MPN Voice, have created 10 bespoke sculptures, exclusively designed by five mural artists from around the UK, including Wales.
Each sculpture represents one of the ten most common symptoms as a character – such as ‘Full Up Fred’ and ‘Night Sweats Nick’.
