Mouth Cancer Action Month is a charity campaign which aims to raise awareness of mouth cancer and make a difference by saving thousands of lives through early detection and prevention.
Throughout November, we aim to raise awareness to get more mouth cancers diagnosed at an early stage. By increasing education of the risk factors and signs and symptoms to encourage everyone to discuss these with their dental professional.
The importance of Mouth Cancer Action Month
In the UK, more than 7,800 people were diagnosed with mouth cancer last year and globally there are in excess of 300,000 new cases every year.
The number of people being diagnosed with mouth cancer has grown by around a third in the last decade and remains one of very few cancers which are predicted to increase further in the coming years.
Although there are risk factors heavily linked to the disease, mouth cancer can affect anyone – that’s why it’s so important that we all know what to look out for. The campaign is all about taking action and promoting the messages:
- Don’t leave a mouth ulcer unattended for more than three weeks.
- Don’t ignore any unusual lumps or swellings or red and white patches in your mouth.
- Early detection could save your life. If you notice any changes in your mouth speak to a dentist or doctor immediately.
Mouth Cancer Action Month 2018
This year, we want everyone to get involved, whether you’re on your own or as part of a team, we have numerous ways you can be part of the campaign and make a real difference.
Mouth Cancer Action Month remains a focal point for everybody across the country to act and help spread awareness of the disease. Your support for the campaign continues to grow year-on-year, as does our passion to reduce the number of lives effected by mouth cancer.
A big thank you
We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who continue to help us raise awareness of mouth cancer – your participation, no matter how big or small, is always warmly received and makes a huge difference to the campaign’s success.
Our thanks also to our sponsor, Simplyhealth Professionals and supporter Dentists’ Provident, whose contributions ensure we are able to reach the maximum number of people with our messages of education, prevention and early detection.
Campaign events and projects
Since we ran the campaign 14 years ago, it has helped facilitate thousands of events and projects, and continues to act as the spearhead campaign for providing organised grassroots activities such as oral health checks and free mouth cancer examinations, talks, sponsored events, roadshows, displays, open sessions – all which have the ultimate goal of engaging people in the importance of being aware of mouth cancer.
This is just a small sample of what we have done for Mouth Cancer Action Month over the years:
- Directly invested £1.5 million into promoting mouth cancer awareness.
- Supported more than 12,000 healthcare organisations taking part in the campaign and provided thousands with patient-facing materials and resources to promote mouth cancer awareness.
- Distributed in excess of 500,000 mouth cancer posters for displays in waiting rooms and practices, with information about risk factors, early warning signs and symptoms of mouth cancer.
- Facilitated around 1,500 specialised mouth cancer events, which specifically aimed to visually examine those patients at risk of mouth cancer.
- Supplied dental practices and hospitals with 5,000 Blue Ribbon Appeal Kits, to be displayed in dental practice waiting rooms. More than 250,000 people now wear our Blue Ribbon Badge to actively show their support for Mouth Cancer Action Month.
- Increased the profile of mouth cancer in the media agenda. More than 6,000 articles have been published, reaching more than 500 million people.
- As a charity looking to make a positive impact in the public arena, we have been able to influence policy regarding smoking, alcohol, diet and gender-neutral HPV vaccinations.
Article credit: https://www.dentalhealth.org/mouth-cancer-action-month
Image credit: https://www.dentalhealth.org/mouth-cancer-action-month