At least one in three of us will get cancer, and with an increasing number of cases each year in Northern Ireland, the Public Health Agency (PHA) is using World Cancer Day (4 February) to raise awareness of signs and symptoms of cancer and encourage people to speak to their GP if they experience any of them.
Dr Miriam McCarthy, Consultant in Public Health Medicine at the PHA, said: “Whilst cancer can be a difficult topic to address, we need to talk about it. There are around 9,000 new cases of cancer diagnosed each year in Northern Ireland and only by talking about cancer openly can we improve outcomes.
“For many cancers, there are symptoms and we know that if cancer is diagnosed early, a person is more likely to survive. If we can detect cancer early, treatment is much more likely to be successful.
“It is therefore important for everyone to be aware of warning signs which need to be investigated to ensure speedy diagnosis and treatment.”
Some examples of symptoms are:
“If you experience any of these symptoms, speak to your GP. Some of the differences in survival rates in Northern Ireland compared with other countries may be due to patients presenting later to their GPs.
“There are many things that people can do to reduce the risk, such as:
“Northern Ireland also has excellent cancer screening programmes in place to help detect the first signs of cancer. These include cervical, breast and bowel cancer screening, so in addition to being aware of signs and symptoms at all times, I would encourage everyone to go for screening when it’s offered.”
The PHA has developed a comprehensive website at www.becancerawareni.info which provides information about cancer signs and symptoms, explains what to do if you’re concerned, and signposts to recommended sources of support or further information.
For more information on Northern Ireland screening programmes visit www.cancerscreening.n-i.nhs.uk
Coppy from publichealth.hscni.net