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Ovarian cancer debate to take place in the House of Commons

26 October 2018

Parliament

A debate on ovarian cancer diagnosis and treatment is going to take place in the House of Commons on 30th October 2018 at 9:30 am and we need your help to get as many MPs to attend as possible.

We’re asking our supporters to contact their MPs and encourage them to attend the debate to represent their experiences of ovarian cancer diagnosis and treatment.

You can find your MP and their contact details by entering your postcode here.

Some key statistics and recommendations to include when writing to your MP are:

• Over 7,000 women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer each year, and only 36% of these women will survive beyond 5 years

• The UK survival rate is one of the poorest in Europe

• Ovarian cancer kills more women in the UK than the other four gynaecological cancers (womb, cervical, vaginal and vulval) combined.

• Just under one third of women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer in A&E or as an emergency referral

• Symptom awareness is still low amongst women and GPs

• 1/3 of women with ovarian cancer are still not being offered a BRCA test at diagnosis, hindering their treatment options and opportunity for cancer prevention in their families  

• Ovarian Cancer Action is funding research into the world’s first ovarian cancer screening tool.

To improve diagnosis and treatment of ovarian cancer we need the Government to take action on the following:

• Ensuring women with ovarian cancer are offered BRCA testing at diagnosis

• Guidelines to ensure ovarian cancer surgery only takes place in specialist centres

• A national clinical audit of ovarian cancer 

• A national awareness campaign of the symptoms of ovarian cancer

We recommend emailing your MP as soon as possible and please do let us know on campaigns@ovarian.org.uk when you have.

When contacting your MP remember to keep your letter short and include your own experiences where possible, as this is likely to have a greater impact. Reinforce at the end of your letter that you hope they will attend, even if only briefly, to represent the issues you have raised.