Each year, more than 130,000 Australians are diagnosed with cancer, with approximately 33,000 of those people living in Victoria. 

Moreover, according to the Cancer Council, 130 Hepburn Shire residents were diagnosed with a form of cancer in 2016.

Creswick resident Lisa Donovan is passionate about cancer prevention and being health conscious as her family has been devastated by the disease. 

“When I was a child I lost my aunt, who was 39, to brain cancer. A number of years later I lost another aunt to breast cancer,” she said. 

“More recently, my uncle has been diagnosed with breast cancer, which is unusual for a man, but still happens.”

Her grandmother also had ovarian cancer, but survived. 

Ms Donovan said she took regular cancer screening very seriously, not just because of her family history, but because she is a foster carer to eight children, who live with her permanently. 

“After having lost so many important people in my life to cancer, I’ve come to believe that timely testing is so important. Given that the alternative to what we consider to be uncomfortable, or awkward, is much more severe,” she said. 

“I feel that my partner and I have a really important job to do. One part of that job is keeping as healthy as we can so that we can be the best parents.”

She said she actively encouraged people to get a check up from their general practitioner if they noticed any changes in their body.

Ms Donovan, who works as a pathologist, said in the seven and a half years she has worked in the job, a lot had changed. 

“We have such easily accessible health care now and a lot of it is subsidised. It’s really important to do these uncomfortable poo tests and pap smears even though they can be embarrassing,” she said.

“If these cancers are identified early, a lot of them are so treatable and you can live a long and happy life.”

She said there had been many advancements in screening and testing while cancer treatments had also seen dramatic improvements in recent years. 

New research by the Cancer Council estimates that almost 1.9 million Australians will have a personal history of cancer, that is to say living with and surviving a diagnosis, by 2040. That is a 72 per cent increase on today’s figures. 

Cancer Council hopes to raise $4 million nationally for cancer research this Daffodil Day, August 24. 

Head of Fundraising at Cancer Council Victoria, Andrew Buchanan, said fundraising events meant investing in more research. 

“We have been able to invest in the best cancer research, helping to increase five year cancer survival by 20 per cent since 1985,” he said.

“We still don’t know why some types of cancer develop and significant improvements need to be made in how we detect and treat these cancers.”