Call for champions to boost Bradford’s low cancer screening rates

Thursday, 15 November 2018 16:00

Women from Bradford's South Asian community are being urged to help boost the “shockingly low” uptake of cancer screening.

The campaign, backed by Bradford West MP Naz Shah, aims to boost the number of women aware of the cancer screening programmes by at least 2,000 by February of next year.

The Wise Up To Cancer scheme involves The University of Bradford and Yorkshire Cancer Research working with 10 community pharmacies and two GP practices - The Ridge Medical Practice and Avicenna Medical Practice - on a research project to improve the uptake of cancer screening among South Asian women in Bradford. The work is funded by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport via the Tampon Tax Fund.

Professor Marcus Rattray of the University of Bradford said: “In Bradford, only 1 in 3 people take up bowel screening, just over half of women take up breast screening and only 6 in 10 of women take up cervical screening, all below the national average. The uptake rate for cancer screening among South Asian women in Bradford is particularly low.

“The project aims to understand why women are not participating in cancer screening and to do something about the shockingly low uptake of cancer screening that is putting women’s lives at risk. The project has already made good progress and now we want to take it further, to bring the benefits to even more women.”

The campaign is calling for women in the local community to volunteer and be trained as community health champions. These champions will talk with women, often in group settings, so that they become more aware of cancer screening, and feel more comfortable in taking part. In addition, the champions will talk to women about lifestyle, including diet and exercise, which are important factors in reducing the risk of cancer.

South Asian women living in Bradford can volunteer to be a community champion by visiting http://www.wutc-bradford.org/

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