But what if you’ve never seen breast cancer that looks like you?

Breasts are a private matter. Talking about them, touching them, exposing them to examination. Photograph them? No. Absolutely not comfortable with any of that. At all. That’s not what we do.

And anyway. Breast cancer is a white woman problem  - so it doesn’t affect me, does it?

Cultural conversations are just one part of the serious cancer conversation issue. The visual messaging relied on by much of the online and print media - even that of some charities - Invariably shows a white woman at a breast screening clinic. Rarely are those stock photos of a woman from black or Asian communities.

What exactly are those women supposed to think if they don’t recognise themselves thanks to lazy and potentially dangerous content? Why would they..?

Cancer presents itself differently, not all doctors know what to look for because it’s different to white skin, the images, culture, jargon and language - it’s a horrible mix of barriers that is still putting lives at risk. Which all sounds like a cliche mix until you talk with Dr Olubukola Ayodele.

Bookie, as she calls herself, is a Consultant Medical Oncologist and heads the Breast Cancer Unit at the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust in the UK. It’s a large, strong ethnic community. She’s also Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer at the University of Leicester. And along with very many published achievements and collaborations, she also sits on the European Cancer Organisation Inequalities Network.

Bottom line is. She’s tired of women being diagnosed too late because no one told them what cancer awareness actually means to them.

So, if anyone recognises the frustration, the inequality, the danger and the scale of the mountain still to climb, it’s Bookie Ayodele. She needs support herself - to get accurate information out there. There's a great deal to take in. Collectively, we can't keep ignoring this.  You can help right now by downloading and sharing this episode.

Because the messaging on all sides is clearly very badly wrong.

 

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More on Bookie Ayodele's research profile.

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Olubukola-Ayodele-2

 

#CancerCanDoOne is part of the Louth Run For Life charity in the UK which has so far raised £855,000 for Cancer Research UK.

 

#breastcancer #breastcancerawareness #ethniccancer #ethniccommunity #cancervoice #cancerdisparity