CWU Supports Bowel Cancer Awareness Month

April is Bowel Cancer Awareness Month (BCAM). The CWU Health, Safety & Environment Department is supporting the annual initiative and working with the organisers, Bowel Cancer UK to raise awareness of bowel cancer and the Bowel Cancer UK charity organisation.

Bowel Cancer Statistics

42,000 people in the UK are diagnosed with bowel cancer each year.
16,000 people die from bowel cancer in the UK each year.
57% of adult bowel cancer patients diagnosed are predicted to survive ten or more years.
54% of bowel cancer cases each year in the UK are linked to major lifestyle and other risk factors.
Early diagnosis is the key to survival!

Bowel Cancer UK

Bowel Cancer UK have, for 26 years, been campaigning to save lives and improve the quality of life for all those affected by Bowel Cancer. Bowel Cancer UK is determined to save lives and improve the quality of life for all those affected by bowel cancer. Their headquarters are in London, England. They also currently have offices in Scotland and Northern Ireland. They are a charity with a registered charity number in England & Wales (1071038) and Scotland (SC040914). As a charitable organisation, Bowel Cancer UK is almost completely dependent on voluntary donations.

The Charity does a number of things:-

• Provide Bowel cancer information
• Undertake Health Promotion
• Run Campaigns & develop Policy
• Fundraising
• Explain and promote why their work is so important

Early diagnosis of bowel cancer and UK Survival Rates

Early diagnosis of bowel cancer in the UK is a problem because people either find it uncomfortable to discuss the symptoms of the disease or simply do not know what they are.

Survival rates in the UK are amongst the lowest in Europe, with 15% more patients being diagnosed at a later stage of the disease compared with most other European countries. This is why Bowel Cancer UK's work - to encourage people to recognise the symptoms of the disease and to act on their concerns so that they have the best chance of survival - is so important.

Bowel cancer survival rates in the UK lag behind the rest of Europe, mainly because people are unaware of the symptoms of bowel cancer or are uncomfortable talking about them, so are diagnosed late. Each year, thousands die unnecessarily.

Bowel Cancer UK saves lives by raising awareness, campaigning for best treatment and care and providing practical support and advice.

Every year Bowel Cancer UK takes their messages to half a million people in all four countries of the UK. Last April's Bowel Cancer Awareness Month was the most successful ever. The charity distributed over 123,000 pieces of information. And they know that with more resources they could reach even more people.

All this information and more is available to download via CWU Letter To Branches, LTB223/15 here

Source: CWU

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