It's sour grapes of some kind. That's all I can conclude after hearing what a Welsh physician had to say about cancer, cancer research, celebrities and money. Dr. Paul Walker is quoted as saying that a disproportionate amount of research money is spent investigating cancer because celebrities supporting anti-cancer campaigns bring too much attention to cancer and that the average person fears cancer when they should not worry. Dr. Walker, who chairs the Welsh public health association PHA Cymru, is in a certain position of power in medical matters, which makes his personal perspective all the more disturbing.

Irish pop singer Ronan Keating, an ex-Boyzone star, who lost his mother Marie to cancer, and is currently launching a Cancer Research UK awareness campaign in Newport, Wales, made a public comment of his own regarding Dr. Walker's insensitive and ill-informed statements on cancer:

"You don't knock charities that are doing good work. It is disgraceful that a doctor could say something like that. He (Dr. Walker) said that men and women in the street fear cancer more than they should - but if one in three people are being diagnosed with cancer, they have every right to be concerned. I am very disappointed in him. It is totally absurd that someone in his position could say these things."

From all the cancer survivors -- from all the families who have lost someone to cancer -- from the many who are working tirelessly to find a way to curb the near-epidemic numbers of cancer diagnosis -- thank you Keating, we could not have said it better.