Medical and physiotherapy students from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) took part, today, in the Irish Society of Chartered Physicians (ISCP) ‘Move 4 Health' campaign. The students were on-hand to provide RCSI staff and students with information on the importance of exercise in both cancer prevention and cancer recovery as part of this week-long event, running from 23-27 April.

There are 120,000 people living in Ireland who either have, or have had, cancer, and one in every three men and one in every four women can expect to be affected by the disease. Accumulating at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity per day can not only make a difference to your lifetime risk of cancer but it can also have positive repercussions for cancer patients.

Speaking on the launch of the ‘Move 4 Health' campaign, Sìne Vazquez, Chartered Physiotherapist, said, "This campaign takes account of the fact that everyone has heard get-fit messages before but where cancer is concerned many people aren't aware of the value of exercise in preventing cancer."

Vazquez continued, "Exercise, in conjunction with a healthy diet, can help cancer patients in their recovery. Often cancer treatment patients tend to reduce their physical activity levels. However exercise is an important part of recovery and there is a need to think long term about patients needs once their cancer treatment has finished."

The ISCP have also developed a new tool called the Exercise Pyramid which will guide people on how to accumulate at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity and how to achieve the correct balance of exercise they should be doing (e.g. walking to the shops) at the base of the pyramid, scaling up to including aerobic exercise (e.g. swimming or yoga). At the peak of the pyramid is what people need to do a lot less of (e.g. excess sitting or watching TV).

More information on the Move 4 Health campaign can be found on www.iscp.ie or www.move4health.ie.