Media release
29 March 2007
New campaign tackles cancer misconceptions in multicultural Australia
Her Excellency Professor Marie Bashir AC CVO, Governor of New South Wales today launched the National Breast Cancer Centre’s 2007 Women’s Health Campaign to cut through the cultural barriers and misconceptions about cancer faced by women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.
Director of the National Breast Cancer Centre, Dr Helen Zorbas said women born in non-English speaking countries tend to present to their doctor with more advanced disease.
“The reasons for late presentation are unknown but may be due to cultural taboos and misunderstandings about cancer, which can impact on a woman’s attitude to seeking medical advice about new or unusual changes in her body” said Dr Zorbas.
“Some cultures believe cancer will bring shame on their family or that it is contagious, others avoid speaking of the disease altogether, referring to it as ‘that terrible illness’, and some believe a cancer diagnosis is closely linked to concepts of karma, retribution and fate.”
The National Breast Cancer Centre is hosting a series of bi-lingual forums across Australia to provide women with culturally appropriate and potentially life-saving information about breast and ovarian cancer. The forums, co-ordinated by the Multicultural Health Communication Service, will be held in the five key languages spoken in Australia other than English; Chinese, Vietnamese, Greek, Italian and Arabic.
“The forums will provide the opportunity to inform women about the facts on breast and ovarian cancer, address cultural misconceptions and emphasise the vital importance of early detection,” said Dr Zorbas.
Forums will be held in Sydney (Arabic), Brisbane (Italian), Melbourne (Greek), Perth (Chinese) and Adelaide (Vietnamese). The first forum will be held in Bankstown, Sydney on the evening of Saturday 31 March.
The forum series will be supported by a multilingual advertising campaign encouraging women to see their GP without delay about any new or unusual changes in their body that could be due to breast or ovarian cancer.
The campaign will build on the National Breast Cancer Centre’s previous work in the development of a range of translated resources providing information about the early detection of breast cancer and to assist women diagnosed with the disease in making decisions about their treatment and support.
The National Breast Cancer Centre is funded by the Australian Government and works with consumers, health professionals, cancer organisations, researchers and governments to improve health outcomes in breast and ovarian cancer.
Media contact: Bree Stevens 0438 209 833