The Project host Carrie Bickmore took to Instagram yesterday to share huge news: the Australian government has established a $100-million fund for brain cancer research.
According to a government website, the new Australian Brain Cancer Mission fund aims to double the survival rate of brain cancer patients within the next 10 years.
Bickmore’s husband, Greg Lange, died from brain cancer in 2010.
“Finally HOPE,” she wrote on Instagram. “The government has announced a 100 million dollar Brain Cancer Fund… This is a game changer. An emotional day that’s for sure. Thanks to everyone who worked quietly, loudly and relentlessly to make this happen. You are all amazing.”
It’s been a big month for Bickmore: her charity, Beanies 4 Brain Cancer, hit the $4.5-million mark in funds raised for brain cancer research on October 12, smashing its original $1-million goal when it launched in 2015.
Brain cancer kills more people over the age of 40 that any other type of cancer, and over 30 Australian children die from the disease each year.
Despite these statistics, as Bickmore pointed out in her 2015 Logies acceptance speech, historically it “receives next to no funding.” How fantastic that that’s about to change.