Symptom awareness campaign launched in GP surgeries throughout England
Thanks to support from The Department of Health in the form of a section 64 grant, we are delighted to announce that every GP surgery in England will have our poster and symptoms awareness leaflets for display, from the end of February.
This campaign is aimed at reaching women attending their GP's surgery, encouraging them to mention if they have very frequent symptoms that could be associated with ovarian cancer.
Ovarian cancer can often be mistaken for diseases such as irritable bowel syndrome which is far more common, but research shows that the frequency of symptoms can help a doctor distinguish between ovarian cancer and other conditions with very similar symptoms. So, by letting your doctor know the full range, frequency and impact of all the symptoms you may be experiencing, you may help reduce the delays that can often occur in diagnosis, and cut down on unnecessary referrals. When diagnosed early, ovarian cancer survival rates are high.
"This is a significant step forward" said Annwen Jones, Chief Executive of Ovarian Cancer Action, "as it is the first such campaign of its type. We thank the Department of Health for supporting us in our endeavours to raise awareness of symptoms of this the fourth most common cancer in women, and are also delighted at the recent announcements by the DH, that ovarian cancer would be included as the first in the new series of national awareness and early detection initiatives, as well as the development of new clinical guidance for doctors, by NICE. As the only charity who has campaigned on symptoms awareness, we'd like to thank the National Cancer Director Professor Mike Richards, and the Cancer Action Team for listening to the concerns of women with ovarian cancer. We are currently seeking funding to extend this project to Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland."
If you do not see your local surgery displaying our posters and leaflets, please ask them to do so, and let us know (info@ovarian.org.uk) so we can make sure they have supplies.