Boosting awareness of bowel cancer screening services

Cancer Research UK and the British Islamic Medical Association (BIMA) have teamed up to help boost awareness about bowel cancer screening services to members of the Muslim community in Oldham.

Each year around 41,700 people are diagnosed with bowel cancer in the UK - including around 130 people in Oldham.

Bowel cancer screening is a great way of detecting cancer in the early stages - when treatment is more likely to be successful - but screening uptake is lower among Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) groups.

Cancer Research UK provided training and resources for health professionals, who are members of the British Islamic Medical Association, to equip them to talk about bowel cancer screening and other cancer screening programmes as part of their series of BIMA national health promotion talks held across the UK.

The training and talks were in particular designed to highlight bowel cancer screening which is available through the NHS in England for 60-74 year olds.

The first talk for the public was held at the UKIM European Islamic Centre in Oldham – also attended by Oldham Public Health and the NHS - where attendees could access health information stalls, request replacement bowel cancer screening kits and get free advice from experts.

A further 35 mosques and Islamic centres across the UK have now also held talks put on by 38 presenters to over 600 attendees.

Organisers hope the model can be repeated in Oldham and more widely across the UK next year to highlight other types of cancer screening.

Marion O’Neill, from Cancer Research UK’s Facilitator programme, said: “We are very excited to be working with the British Islamic Medical Association to help raise awareness among the Muslim community about cancer screening available here in Oldham and Greater Manchester.

“Bowel cancer screening saves lives, but not everyone knows about it.

"So taking the information out into the heart of the community to places where people are attending for prayer is a good way to share information as people go about their daily lives.

“Working with an experienced organisation like BIMA who are well-respected in the community means we can help get information out about screening and make sure the information is delivered in a way that is useful and accessible for people.

“Cancer Research UK believes that no one should be diagnosed too late to have treatment that might save their life and diagnosing cancer early and projects like this are vital to help all communities access screening and the opportunity for earlier diagnosis.”

Under the partnership, health professionals were given material from the charity and the British Islamic Medical Association through a webinar and power point presentation as well as information leaflets available in different languages, links to local cancer screening services and tips on presenting to a community audience.

Dr Shahzad Amin, a Manchester GP and North West Lead for the British Islamic Medical Association, said: “Working in collaboration with Cancer Research UK, a well-established and well-known organisation doing some great work across the UK, has been very useful for the British Islamic Medical Association in many ways.

“The talk in Oldham was the first of a series of BIMA national health promotion talks held across the UK.

“The British Islamic Medical Association plans to continue to work in collaboration with CRUK and hopes to hold another set of health promotion talks that are bigger and even better next year, learning from experiences this year.

“We hope the new partnership will help people to make informed choices about whether to take part in bowel cancer screening and ultimately help improve cancer survival by allowing cancer to be diagnosed sooner.”

People aged 60-74 years who are registered with a GP will receive an NHS bowel cancer screening kit through the post, every two years.

Bowel cancer screening is a simple test that can be done in the privacy of your own home.

It is designed to detect early signs of bowel cancer, in people without any symptoms.