Put Your Foot Down & Make Real Impact for Pancreatic Cancer

PanKind The Australian Pancreatic Cancer Foundation will hold their Put Your Foot Down Melbourne walk on Sunday 22 October to raise awareness and funds for pancreatic cancer, a disease that has the lowest survival rate of any major cancer.

The Put Your Foot Down Melbourne walk will unite Australians affected by the disease at a 4km family and dog-friendly walk, held at Alexandra Gardens in the CBD. The walk sees the community unite and dress passionately in the cause colour purple, raising much-needed awareness and funds for research to help triple the survival rate by 2030. Since 2008, over $2 million has been raised for pancreatic cancer research and patient support from the Put Your Foot Down walks held in 8 cities across Australia.

Pancreatic cancer is now a common cancer and claims 10 Australians each day yet has a devastatingly low five-year survival rate of only 12.5%, dropping alarmingly to 6.8% in rural and regional areas. Last year the disease claimed almost as many lives as breast cancer and has the lowest survival rates of all main cancer types. Over 4500 people will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer this year, and 80 per cent of patients will die within 12 months.

“Most people do not realise that pancreatic cancer is now a common cancer,” says Michelle Stewart, PanKind CEO, “it is a devastating disease, and even with the dire statistics, funding for research is still too low. The Put Your Foot Down walks provide an important forum for patients, their families and the broader community to unite for greater impact, and to help us advocate for more focus and funding for this disease. We are delighted to be returning to Victoria for our annual walk, providing an opportunity for the community from Melbourne and the surrounding regions to connect for support and advocate for more focus on the disease, and better outcomes for patients.”

The event celebrates the 114th anniversary of the Put Your Foot Down walk in Melbourne and has raised almost $450,000 for pancreatic cancer research, much of which has been funding cutting-edge research at Melbroune based research institutions. The walk will start at 9.30am on 22 October at Peppercorn Lawn (Alexandra Gardens) and be attended by patients, their families and PanKind staff and ambassadors. Attendees are encouraged to dress in the cause colour purple.

More details about the event including registration, can be found on the website link above (see website section).