Raising awareness of cancer screening at Deeplish Community Centre

The information session at Deeplish Community Centre

Deeplish Community Centre in Rochdale hosted a voluntary sector partnership at one of its women’s groups to help raise awareness of cancer and improve the uptake of screening.

The engagement team of Answer Cancer – the working name of the Greater Manchester Screening Engagement Programme – recently joined one of the women groups that regularly meets at the centre for an awareness session. Answer Cancer aims to increase the uptake of cancer screening across Greater Manchester.

Cancer screening can save thousands of lives each year: it can detect cancers early, and in some cases prevent them from developing.

The session, which was in English but translated into Urdu and Hindi, enabled some participants to share their own experiences of cancer and screening services at Rochdale.

One participant shared the experience of a family member who had recently been diagnosed with bowel cancer. She said: “Talking to your GP early about symptoms [that are unusual for you], is vital if cancer is to be caught early.

“A lot of people know about the smear test and the breast cancer screening, but little is known about bowel cancer. We need to increase knowledge on the bowel cancer screening in the community.”

The group also discussed barriers which prevent people from attending screening appointments or contacting their GP.  Most people cited “fear of being diagnosed with cancer” and “lack of awareness” as the major reason for low uptake of cancer screening services.

Many in attendance were unaware that one in two people in the UK will develop cancer; more than 90% of people who receive an early diagnosis of bowel, breast or cervical cancer now survive, compared to some 50 years ago; and screening saves thousands of asymptomatic people in the UK from dying early.

The group also spoke about ways to stay healthy in order to reduce their cancer risk, such as being active, maintaining a healthy weight, cutting back on red meat, and increasing fibre [including fruits and vegetable] intake.

Deeplish Community Centre Operations Manager Sohail Ahmad said: “We are committed to raising awareness about various health issues especially the various type of cancers, treatment, prevention and care in the community.

“It’s important that people are fully engaged and understand the services and information in their own community languages. We are pleased to have delivered this session with help and support from Answer Cancer.”