Major push on cancer awareness

The public awareness aspect of the Government’s new Cancer Strategy is being rolled out from this week.

The ‘Be Clear on Cancer’ campaign is being piloted in two regions, aimed at highlighting the early symptoms of bowel cancer.

The Government thinks thousands of lives a year could be saved with better cancer screening and treatment and made it a key part of its new strategy for cancer unveiled at the start of the year.

Health minister Paul Burstow said: “Early diagnosis makes a huge difference to cancer survival rates and bowel cancer is one of the biggest killers. That’s why the ‘Be Clear on Cancer’ campaign uses simple messages to make people aware of the early signs of bowel cancer and to give them the confidence to talk to their GP about them.”

Adverts will appear on TV, radio and in newspapers in the East of England and South West for the next seven weeks.

Senior figures from cancer and bowel cancer charities welcomed the campaign, with Mark Flannagan, chief executive of Beating Bowel Cancer, calling it a “major step forward”.

The DoH has also made available £9 million to fund 59 local cancer awareness campaigns focused on bowel, lung and breast cancer – the three biggest killers.