Charity calls for improved breast awareness in UK ethnic communities
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《英国医生杂志》
Women from minority ethnic groups in the United Kingdom have much less knowledge about breast cancer than white British women, says Breast Cancer Care. The charity is calling on the government and the NHS to improve the situation. It also demands better cooperation between the media, primary care, community organisations, government health departments, breast cancer charities, and the NHS breast screening programme.
The results emerged during a debate held in London last week which discussed the results of a survey commissioned by Breast Cancer Care in March 2005. The survey found that 43% of women from black and minority ethnic communities said that they had never checked their breasts compared with just 11% of the general population.
Most of the women who have never checked their breasts from these communities said the reason was that they did not know what to look for. The survey also found that 45% of women of screening age (50-70 years) from ethnic minority groups had never attended the NHS breast cancer screening programme; 76% of them said that this was because they had never been invited.
Breast Cancer Care抯 research manager, Karen Scanlon, emphasised that breast cancer information should be widely available and that GPs in particular should discuss the topic more with their black and minority ethnic and older patients.
"With breast cancer incidence rates rising across all communities, this inequality in such a fundamental area of health knowledge cannot be allowed to persist. We need funding from central government and a collaborative approach from health practitioners and the voluntary sector in order to bridge this divide," she said.
"In order to raise standards of care," said Lydia Yee of the equality and human rights group at the Department of Health. "The NHS should become a health service rather than just focussing on sickness."
Lai Fong Chiu from the Institute of Health Science and Public Health at the University of Leeds, added, "Projects where black and minority ethnic women can practise how to change an appointment on the phone can already improve access to breast screening."
Breast Cancer Care抯 director of policy and research, Clara MacKay, pointed out that the Same Difference campaign, which was launched in breast cancer awareness month in October, was only part of an ongoing process and that Breast Cancer Care would be permanently committed to ensuring that everyone in the United Kingdom has access to high quality information about breast cancer.
The Same Difference survey included face to face interviews with 816 women from the main ethnic minority groups in the UK (including Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Black African, Black Caribbean, Chinese, and Irish). Researchers compared their attitudes and experiences with those of 480 socially disadvantaged women and 552 women from the general population collected by telephone interview.(BMJ Christiane Rehwagen)
The results emerged during a debate held in London last week which discussed the results of a survey commissioned by Breast Cancer Care in March 2005. The survey found that 43% of women from black and minority ethnic communities said that they had never checked their breasts compared with just 11% of the general population.
Most of the women who have never checked their breasts from these communities said the reason was that they did not know what to look for. The survey also found that 45% of women of screening age (50-70 years) from ethnic minority groups had never attended the NHS breast cancer screening programme; 76% of them said that this was because they had never been invited.
Breast Cancer Care抯 research manager, Karen Scanlon, emphasised that breast cancer information should be widely available and that GPs in particular should discuss the topic more with their black and minority ethnic and older patients.
"With breast cancer incidence rates rising across all communities, this inequality in such a fundamental area of health knowledge cannot be allowed to persist. We need funding from central government and a collaborative approach from health practitioners and the voluntary sector in order to bridge this divide," she said.
"In order to raise standards of care," said Lydia Yee of the equality and human rights group at the Department of Health. "The NHS should become a health service rather than just focussing on sickness."
Lai Fong Chiu from the Institute of Health Science and Public Health at the University of Leeds, added, "Projects where black and minority ethnic women can practise how to change an appointment on the phone can already improve access to breast screening."
Breast Cancer Care抯 director of policy and research, Clara MacKay, pointed out that the Same Difference campaign, which was launched in breast cancer awareness month in October, was only part of an ongoing process and that Breast Cancer Care would be permanently committed to ensuring that everyone in the United Kingdom has access to high quality information about breast cancer.
The Same Difference survey included face to face interviews with 816 women from the main ethnic minority groups in the UK (including Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Black African, Black Caribbean, Chinese, and Irish). Researchers compared their attitudes and experiences with those of 480 socially disadvantaged women and 552 women from the general population collected by telephone interview.(BMJ Christiane Rehwagen)