Jane Fonda. Picture: Marvin Joseph
ACTRESS Jane Fonda announced on Instagram that she has been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and is receiving six months of chemotherapy treatments.
Fonda, 84, said, in a caption accompanying a selfie, the diagnosis had underscored for her "the importance of growing and deepening one's community".
"This is a very treatable cancer," she wrote, adding that "I'm also lucky because I have health insurance and access to the best doctors and treatments. I realise, and it's painful, that I am privileged in this. Almost every family in America has had to deal with cancer at one time or another and far too many don't have access to the quality health care I am receiving and this is not right."
A few years ago, Fonda told British Vogue that she has "had a lot of cancer" in her life and said she had a mastectomy shortly before attending the 2016 Golden Globes.
In her post, Fonda urged her followers to talk "much more not just about cures but about causes so we can eliminate them".
"For example, people need to know that fossil fuels cause cancer," she said.
Known as much for her history of activism as her acclaimed acting career – she has won two Academy Awards and an Emmy – Fonda has in recent years participated in protests against climate change, including the "Fire Drill Fridays" she attended weekly in 2019.
"We're living through the most consequential time in human history because what we do or don't do right now will determine what kind of future there will be and I will not allow cancer to keep me from doing all I can.
"The midterms are looming, and they are beyond consequential so you can count on me to be right there together with you as we grow our army of climate champions."
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