A campaign to raise awareness of the symptoms of womb cancer and increase earlier diagnosis among Black and ethnic minority women is showing signs of success.
The campaign, ‘You Need to Know’ was undertaken by the North East London Cancer Alliance in collaboration with the gynaecological cancer charity, The Eve Appeal. The impact of the campaign was investigated by academics based at the University of Leicester and the results have just been published in the British Medical Journal Public Health.
Womb cancer, also known as uterine cancer, is the fourth most common cancer among women in the UK but there are stark variations in survival rates with those from ethnic minority and socioeconomically deprived groups, particularly Black ethnic minority groups, experiencing higher mortality rates.
Dr Esther Moss, Associate Professor in Gynaecological Oncology at the University, explained: “There is concern that barriers to accessing healthcare such as language, women not being aware of red-flag symptoms that should prompt them to see their GP, and a misconception that cervical screening tests detects all gynaecological cancers, are contributing to delays in womb cancer diagnosis and as a result worse outcomes.”
The campaign, which ran between January 2023 and April 2024 in East London, was initiated by high incidences of women in the area receiving a diagnosis of late-stage womb cancer, significantly lowering their chances of survival. Its key message was that bleeding after the menopause is not normal.
‘You Need to Know’ targeted women at a community level via specific health-related events held in person, social media and via language appropriate leaflets. In total 250 people attended health events in person.
Post-evaluation questionnaires were positive, with 92.8% of attendees who responded feeling that the factual information was easy to understand and they now felt encouraged talking to a health professional should they need to. Evaluation of the campaign did highlight the importance of taking a community-centred approach to sharing cancer awareness information and the need for language interpreter support to ensure accurate translation of health information.
Dr Natalie Darko, Associate Professor of Health Equity and Director of Inclusion, based at the University of Leicester and NIHR Leicester Biomedical Research Centre, said: “The campaign was novel in that it primarily sought to engage with women in person rather than through social media and press avenues.
“The results of the campaign evaluation show that open health discussions within a culturally supportive context help to reduce stigma and improve the numbers seeking health advice. This approach should and can be expanded to help other underserved groups receive vital health messaging and therefore help save lives. Similarly, the creation of culturally tailored resources can also be used alongside this to help reinforce the messages.”
Athena Lamnisos, CEO at The Eve Appeal said: “We are delighted to be working with the North East London Cancer Alliance on the You Need to Know campaign. For too long awareness and information campaigns haven’t been reaching everyone with the information and support they need to look after their health. This has been contributing to Black women having worse outcomes when it comes to womb cancer, the most common of the gynaecological cancers.
“It has been fantastic working with women in the local community to develop a programme that works for them, has the information they need and where they want it. It has been a hugely successful campaign and we are excited to be expanding it in North London to include ovarian cancer too.”
Caroline Cook, Early Diagnosis Programme Lead, North East London Cancer Alliance, added: “Previously, womb cancer was diagnosed too late as women in north east London were not coming forward with their symptoms. We are changing this. Our campaign – designed by the very people we are trying to reach out to – is encouraging more women to get checked sooner, which is helping to save lives.”