A short factsheet has been produced to support GPs in the first NHS national bowel cancer symptom awareness campaign in England.
The aim of this national campaign is to raise public awareness of the symptoms of bowel cancer and to encourage those with persistent symptoms to present promptly. Although the great majority of people may not have bowel cancer, some may. By catching the cancer earlier it should be more treatable. This is part of the programme aimed towards improvement of cancer survival rates.
Advertisements are featuring on TV and the radio and in other national media. The campaign message is that ‘loose poo’ and ‘blood in poo’ for more than three weeks can be symptoms of bowel cancer and that people with these symptoms should go to see their doctor.
In addition, a cancer awareness toolkit has also been developed. It is intended to increase efforts to improve earlier presentation and diagnosis of cancer and encourage uptake of NHS screening programmes and encourage people to seek help.
It is designed to help recognition of the common symptoms of cancer, and the ways that information can be shared.
The toolkit is available at cancerawarenesstoolkit.com
And more information about the national bowel cancer campaign and additional resources are available for GPs on Bowel Cancer UK.
