May is the World Bladder Cancer Awareness Month—a time to reflect on the burden of the cancer across the globe and to improve on the fight against the disease.
Being the tenth most common cancer worldwide with over 550,000 cases diagnosed annually and more than 1.7 million people living with the condition, bladder cancer is increasingly posing a heavy morbidity and mortality burden.
Currently, it is the sixth most common cancer in men and the seventeenth most common cancer in women—one in 100 men and one in 400 women are diagnosed with the cancer globally. It is also the thirteenth most common cause of death from cancer worldwide.
So there is every reason to up the battle against the disease. And the Bladder Cancer Awareness Month is a critical time to do that.
Why raise awareness?
Raising awareness is a major weapon in fighting bladder cancer. You may not know it, but it is true that most people have never heard of bladder cancer. In fact, most people diagnosed with the cancer had never heard of it until it stormed into their lives.
Likewise, bladder cancer is one of the most forgotten and least talked about conditions globally. Thanks to symptoms such as blood in urine and its occurrence in an intimate area of the body, many people tend to feel embarrassed speaking about it or seeking professional help.
With less talk about it follows less awareness. And with inadequate information follows limited action to prevent the cancer or to seek early diagnosis. So as a consequence, most cases of bladder cancer are detected too late, which diminishes the chances of successful treatment.
The lack of awareness also causes people to think it is a very rare cancer, which is quite far from the truth. In the United States, bladder cancer is the sixth most common cancer, with at least 81,000 new cases reported every year.
Equally, many people are unaware of the main symptoms of the cancer, and how serious the disease can be. Neither are they aware that it can affect anyone, male or female, young or old.
Moreover, since early diagnosis is critical in beating the cancer, it is essential the more people know about the cancer, its signs and symptoms, and why the need to seek medical attention as soon as they have the symptoms.
Help spread the message
The World Bladder Cancer Awareness Month provides an opportunity to spark conversations that can drive awareness and help overcome the feelings of embarrassment about the symptoms. Plus, it provides the opportunity to raise our voices for those affected by the condition.
At St Pete Urology, we take the Bladder Cancer Awareness Month seriously. It is a period when the world’s attention is on the cancer and we consider it the best time to intensify our efforts on bladder cancer awareness, early detection, and successful treatment.
We also take it a as a crucial time when everyone—you included—can play a part in combating the cancer. This month, we call on you to join us in raising awareness.
So what practical things can you do to help raise awareness about bladder cancer?
- Check if your hospital has information posters and leaflets for bladder cancer patients. And if they are available, find out if they are giving them to the patients. If not, please do let them know.
- Speak with your physician and get them to display bladder cancer awareness posters or distribute awareness leaflets. Plus, you can request for bladder cancer awareness posters to display on various spaces, in your home or office.
- Speak openly about bladder cancer with your friends and relatives. Encourage them to also talk to others about the disease. Remember, if you tell two people, and then those two people tell another two, a chain of information is created that can have a huge impact.
- Make some posts about bladder cancer on social media. Of course, you can easily do that by sharing, liking, or commenting on our posts. You may never know just how many people you might help learn more about the cancer.
- Thank medical professionals involved in bladder cancer care. It may appear like a small effort, but in the larger scheme of things, it goes a long way in encouraging them to do their best for cancer patients.
- Take part in a fundraising to help the fight against bladder cancer.
- Wear orange and tell people the reason why you are doing so. Dressing up in orange for a day or more can be a striking way of drawing people’s attention towards the disease.
At St Pete Urology, we believe that making more people aware of bladder cancer is a potent weapon in the fight against the disease. That is why every year in May we line up various activities to help us take advantage of the Bladder Cancer Awareness Month in getting the message out there.
We also believe that increased awareness can help to drive more people to seek prompt medical attention. For in combating the cancer, nothing is more critical than early detection, which often leads to successful treatment.
So help us spread this message of awareness and let others know more about the cancer. For more information on bladder cancer, signs and symptoms, risks and prevention, diagnosis and treatment, visit the site “St Pete Urology.”
