Breast and Cervical Screening Awareness Programme This award winning programme aims to combine the resources of the community deve lopment and the health sector in order to increase uptake and to raise women’s awareness of screening services. Many women are falling through the net because they aren’t getting enough information about the importance of screening and also what is available to them. Often women are intimidated by the screening process. Through this programme we try to dispel the myths, raise awareness and provide an opportunity for discussion and shared experience among women.
Breast and Cervical cancer statistics are shocking. Each year in the United Kingdom 38,000 women are newly diagnosed with breast cancer. 13,000 women die from breast cancer each year, and every week 730 new cases of breast cancer are diagnosed. In Northern Ireland about 80 cases of cervical cancer are diagnosed per year. Approximately half these women will never have had a smear test in their life.
This two-session programme aims to raise awareness of the importance of breast and cervical screening by providing women with information that will encourage them to avail of the screening services on offer and help address any fears surrounding breast and cervical screening. The course is delivered by specially trained Community Facilitators that are able to reach many women who may feel uncomfortable talking about such intimate issues with health professionals. |