EMERGENCY funding for the regional office of a leading ovarian cancer charity is being used to encourage people who might not have had their symptoms checked during the pandemic to talk to their GP.
The £86,485 grant is especially vital as during the Covid-19 lockdown, referrals to the two-week-wait urgent pathway for suspected cancer in England are reported to have fallen by up to 84 per cent.
People often delay getting symptoms for ovarian cancer checked out in normal times – because the signs of the disease, including bloating, can be dismissed as something less serious, says Ovacome spokeswoman Laura Nott.
“This grant is enabling us to get the message out there that if you have bloating, which is unusual for you, are eating less, have abdominal pain or changes in your toilet habits, it is important to get checked out,” she said.
“Ovarian cancer is one of those diseases where the prognosis improves significantly if it is detected early.
“With no screening available for ovarian cancer – the smear test will not pick it up – this is especially important.”
The money from the Government’s Coronavirus Community Support Fund will allow the charity’s new West Midlands hub to produce awareness material about the little known disease in multiple languages including Polish, Panjabi, Urdu, Bengali and Arabic, as well as English.
The aim is to reach 40,000 people in harder to reach marginalised and rural communities with the message that symptoms if new and persistent, lasting for more than two weeks, should be checked out.
The grant – distributed by the National Lottery Community Fund – will be used in campaigns inthe West Midlands, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire and Herefordshire.
Anyone concerned about ovarian cancer can visit www.ovacome.org.uk or call freephone 0800 008 7054.
