Dear All,
 
In my previous update I let you know that the petition reached MP Sajid Javid, who is Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, the decision maker.
 
Now we need to take the next step! The government needs to hear our voices and take this matter to parliament to start a serious discussion so that all women get the care they deserve!
21 women die every day due to gynaecological cancers, and it seems like this is still not enough for the system to take notice and action. We MUST reach out to our politicians and local MPs and ask them to give us what we really NEED!
 
This is where you all come in. I am now asking for YOUR HELP to raise this issue with your local constituency MP and ask them to back this essential change! We can achieve the best result and biggest impact if we ALL collectively ask for support for this change.
 
I have prepared a letter for you, and you will only need to copy & paste it, fill in the blanks and email it to your local MP.
 
1. Visit website www.writetothem.com to find out who your local MP is and their email address. 
2. You will need to send them an email from your email account. Simply copy and paste the letter below that I have prepared for you and fill in the blanks. Your name and address is important to prove that you are a member of their constituency, so please don’t forget this.
3. Send your email.
 
This is our chance to SPEAK UP and tell our MPs that women’s health must be taken more seriously, and we want to see this change implemented.
 
PLEASE get in touch with your MPs as soon as you can; this is your opportunity to influence this for all women, including those dear to you. If we ALL apply pressure across the country we will be another step closer to making a difference and saving lives.
 
I really need your help NOW.
Please send this letter to your MP as soon as you can! It’s really as easy as 123, so don’t delay. This change is long overdue! If you get a reply from your MP it would be great if you can get in touch with me, just to let me know.
 
Thank you all so much,
Dafina x
dmalovska@yahoo.com
 
Letter Template below
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Dear (MPs Name)
 
My name is (Your Name), I live in (Your Address) and I am a member of your constituency. I am writing to you, as my local MP, asking for your support for a very important cause.
 
There are clinical areas of women’s health care in this country which severely fail women of all ages and urgent change is needed. 
 
According to Cancer Research UK, every day 58 women in the UK are diagnosed with gynaecological cancer. Every day 21 women die from gynaecological cancer due to late diagnosis. Please refer to further statistics at the end*.
 
Did you know that women in the UK are only tested for 1 out of the 5 gynaecological cancers which can affect the womb, the ovaries, the vagina, the vulva as well as the cervix? Currently, women in the UK only have access to one single preventative screening programme: cervical smear tests.
Every year 3,000 women in the UK are diagnosed with cervical cancer and as a result of the screening program many cases are diagnosed early and have a good prognosis.
However, in addition to the 3,000 women who are diagnosed with cervical cancer, more than 18,000 women are diagnosed each year with other forms of gynaecological cancer (uterine / ovarian / vulval / vaginal) for which there are no preventative check-ups at all. These are frequently not detected early enough to be successfully treated because, at the early stages, these cancers are often asymptomatic or present with non-specific symptoms.
 
There are no regular women’s health check-ups or any preventative screening in the UK for all female organs to ensure and maintain good women’s health. Women in the UK die from conditions which would have been diagnosed and treated earlier in other European countries.
Gynaecological cancers & many abnormalities can be detected and diagnosed by a Gynaecologist (through a basic gynaecologic exam) or a GP with appropriate training. 
Regular women’s health check-ups are common practice in many countries including France, Germany, Italy, Finland, Sweden, Belgium, Luxembourg, Czech Republic, Malta, North Macedonia the US, Brazil, Israel, Réunion, Japan, the Philippines and many other countries worldwide!
 
So why not in the UK?
 
With the current health care system, women must wait until symptoms develop and then go to their GP. There are a number of factors which further exacerbate this problem:
-        Women gnore symptoms until it is too late – they mistakenly believe that the screening programme for cervical cancer will pick up all gynaecological cancers.1
-        Due to the non-specific nature of the signs and symptoms, GPs may not immediately think about gynaecological cancers. Patients are referred to other specialists, which wastes precious time. A delayed diagnosis negatively affects treatment outcomes and remission rates2.
-        Almost half of women (45%) must wait three months or more from first visiting their GP to getting a correct diagnosis3, which in many cases has come too late.
-        In some cases, women have to visit their GP several times or fight for a referral before they can convince their GP to refer them to the correct specialist.
 
The treatment for all cancers has a greater chance of success if it is discovered as early as possible, not to mention reducing the overall costs of treatment.
-        Women diagnosed with stage 1 ovarian cancer have a 90% chance of survival. (avg. cost of treatment £5,328).
-        But the chance of survival drops to just 5% when women are diagnosed at stage 4 of the disease. (avg. cost of treatment £15,081).
-        58% of cases of ovarian cancer are diagnosed too late at stage 3 and 4.
Earlier diagnosis of ovarian cancer can save over £16m (benefiting 1,400 patients).
Please see Ovarian and Womb cancer survival statistics** 
 
Recently the UK was ranked 45th out of 59 countries in a study on Ovarian cancer survival rates4. It is inconceivable that survival rates in the UK are far below those of equally developed countries such as France or Germany, where all women have access to annual women’s health check-ups, which directly improves early detection rates.
 
If an annual women’s health check-up becomes standard policy in the UK, as is the case in many other countries, it will save thousands of women’s lives by enabling the early diagnosis of gynaecological cancers which currently have no screening programmes.
 
Finally, offering yearly women’s health check-ups in the UK from the age of 18 onwards will contribute towards educating women about their gynaecological health, it will help to break the taboo around this subject and will improve the cultural and social attitudes towards women’s reproductive health. It will also give girls and women a chance to openly discuss any gynaecological concerns with a specialist such as: periods, sex, contraception, fertility, menopause.
 
I have signed the petition and I would be very grateful if you would please add your support and backing in parliament to help bring about this much needed change in order to help reduce the deaths of over 7,600 women each year. The petition has gained support of gynaecologists, GPs & MPs such as: MP Sharon Hodgson, MP Marsha de Cordova, APPG on Women’s Health, MP Elliot Colborn has also supported the petition.
 
The link to the petition on Change.org is https://www.change.org/checkMEupUK
 
 
Your sincerely,
(Your full name)
 
(Your home address)
 
 
References and Statistics:
 
*Statistics: - https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/our-research-by-cancer-type/our-research-into-womb-cancer
·       Womb cancer- 9,300 women diagnosed each year
·       Ovarian cancer- 7,300 women diagnosed each year
·       Cervical cancer- 3,000 women diagnosed each year
·       Vulval cancer - 1,300 women diagnosed each year
·       Vaginal cancer - 240 women diagnosed each year
 
 
**Ovarian Cancer survival: https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/ovarian-cancer/survival
**Ovarian cancer treatment cost, page 6: https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/sites/default/files/saving_lives_averting_costs.pdf
 
**Womb cancer: https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/womb-cancer/survival
When diagnosed at its earliest stage, 95% of women with uterine cancer will survive this disease for five years or more, compared with around 15% women when diagnosed at the latest stage.
 
 
1.     https://www.targetovariancancer.org.uk/news/smear-tests-wont-detect-ovarian-cancer
2.     https://www.abdn.ac.uk/news/12617/
3.     https://www.targetovariancancer.org.uk/useful-links/media-centre/key-facts-and-figures
4.     https://ovarian.org.uk/news-and-blog/news/new-report-ranks-uk-ovarian-cancer-survival-45th-out-59-countries/