Addressing UK Health Inequalities

At Prevent Breast Cancer, we are dedicated to addressing health inequalities. Despite advancements in breast cancer treatment and awareness improving survival rates across the UK, certain communities and socially deprived areas still face significant disparities in diagnosis and outcomes. We believe that a woman’s chance of survival should not be determined by socioeconomic status or ethnicity, and that’s why addressing health inequalities is at the core of our mission.

• Breast cancer mortality rate is 17% higher for women in the most deprived areas.
• Around 3,000 cases of breast cancer each year in England in females are linked with lower deprivation.
• 60% of breast cancer patients in Manchester are from socially deprived groups.
• Black African and Caribbean women are more likely to be diagnosed with late-stage breast cancer.
• Survival rates for black and South Asian women are lower compared to white women.

In particular, our goal is to increase screening attendance in Manchester, where the screening uptake is notably lower than the national average.

We also aim to engage with community groups, deliver educational health talks, and dispel myths to promote breast health awareness and empower women to make informed choices about their breast health.

In addition, we will gather valuable and diverse data during our community outreach work through disseminating questionnaires and surveys. We hope this will help us to identify barriers to screening and work towards overcoming them.

We understand that certain communities face disproportionate barriers to accessing screening services. Therefore, we are taking proactive steps to address these disparities:

Our dedicated committee is actively exploring strategies to remove barriers to screening and ensure equitable access for all.

Focused on engaging with underrepresented groups, this new role is pivotal in increasing screening uptake.

We are tailoring our approach with multilingual video adverts and targeted outreach efforts to resonate with diverse communities, including those of South Asian backgrounds.

We collaborate with partners to run campaigns, like the ‘It’s Time’ campaign, distributing pink roses and conducting awareness activities with a focus on areas with low screening uptake.

Find out more about our Outreach & Awareness Activities.

We’re thrilled to have received a two-year grant totalling £105,000 from Forever Manchester and NHS Charities Together to support our work in addressing health inequalities. This funding has allowed us to hire a Health Inequalities Officer and enhance our efforts to improve breast screening uptake among different communities in Manchester.

Forever Manchester is Greater Manchester’s Community Foundation, the only charity raising money to fund and support community activity across Greater Manchester. NHS Charities Together is the national charity supporting the NHS, providing essential support to staff, patients, and communities. Working with over 230 NHS Charities across the UK, they ensure that support reaches where it’s needed most.

By tackling health inequalities head-on, we aim to create a future where every woman has an equal opportunity to access life-saving breast cancer screening and breast health information.