On 30 January, the Government will be launching its first national media campaign to raise public awareness of the symptoms of bowel cancer and encourage people to visit their GP early if they have these symptoms.
Bowel cancer can affect people of all ages, but is more common in those over the age of 55. In England, cancer survival rates are poorer when compared to many other European countries and one of the major reasons is that cancer patients are diagnosed late. Over 90 per cent of people who are diagnosed early with bowel cancer survive for at least 5 years compared with less than 10 per cent when diagnosed at a late stage of the disease.
Public awareness of the early signs and symptoms of bowel cancer is low. This campaign is therefore designed to alert people to the symptoms – in particular blood in poo or loose poo for three weeks or more - and encourage them to see their GP.
As part of the campaign, this toolkit has been developed to provide information and resources to organisations or groups to help ensure more people are aware of the importance of diagnosing bowel cancer early.
Support from local partners is invaluable in getting the message out about the signs and symptoms of bowel cancer to those at risk and their family and friends, so we do hope you are able to get behind the campaign.
This first edition of the toolkit contains communications advice, facts and stats, key messages and templates, to help you share campaign information with your stakeholders, partners and local media. It also includes a campaign timeline to help you when planning your communications activities.
The second edition of the toolkit, which will be distributed after the launch of the campaign, will also include press release templates for media use.
The toolkit may be used by Local Authorities, local charities, NHS communicators, charities, support groups, or any local organisation with an interest in bowel cancer.
We do hope you are able to support this campaign. By working in partnership, we hope to maximise the impact of the campaign.
Bowel Cancer Toolkit 1 - FINAL 230112.doc