By Newsdesk Friday, July 13, 2012. London, UK- Jo’s
Cervical Cancer Trust, Britain’s only charity dedicated to people affected by cervical cancer and cervical abnormalities, and the NHS
National Cancer Action Team (NCAT) have jointly launched an advert to
run in GP waiting rooms to target Black and Minority Ethnic (BME)
communities following a survey suggesting a worrying lack of awareness
around cervical cancer prevention amongst BME women. Launching
during Ethnic Minority Cancer Awareness Week (EMCAW), the advert is
produced in partnership with NCAT’s ‘Cancer does not discriminate
campaign’, which aims to increase cancer screening uptake and raise
awareness of the early signs of cancer amongst people from black and
minority ethnic communities. Carrying the message ‘cervical screening
saves lives’ it will run in 30 surgeries for five months in areas with a
higher BME population. This includes surgeries in London, Leicester,
Leeds and Nottingham. Research
commissioned by the charity highlighted a level of misunderstanding
from BME women around the subject of cervical cancer and the importance
of cervical screening (smear) with only 65% of BME women in the survey
believing the life saving test is a necessary one compared to 73% of
white women. Similarly of those invited for screening, four times as
many BME women as white women said ‘it did not seem relevant to me’.
Results also showed a desire for more information with almost half of
BME women in the survey (43%) calling for a more detailed explanation of
the risks of not being screened. Robert
Music, Director of Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust, said: “Our survey
highlighted that in all areas of questioning BME women were considerably
less aware of the issues surrounding cervical cancer prevention
compared to white women and this alerted us to a need for a more
targeted awareness drive amongst ethnic communities. With the cervical
screening programme saving 5,000 lives in the UK each year, this lack of
knowledge means BME women are less likely to attend their screening
test putting their lives at risk.”Paula
Lloyd Knight, Associate Director Patient Experience, NCAT said that
Cancer affects all communities and cervical cancer is one that can be
prevented. She
said: “With strong evidence suggesting that BME women are less likely
to take up their screening invitation and consequently present with
symptoms when the disease is at a later stage the NHS is delighted to
be partnering with Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust to specifically reach
those whose test has been missed or is overdue.” For
further information contact Maddy Durrant, Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust
on 020 7936 7498 / 07772 290 064 or email maddy@jostrust.org.uk
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