Partnership is saving lives through screening

Gordons Chemists is the main partner for Action Cancer’s Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign and this announcement brings the number of women who have signed up for screening through the partnership to 1500 since the partnership began two years ago.

Action Cancer is the only charity to offer breast screening to women aged 40-49 and 70+, who fall outside the NHS screening programme. Every month approximately 1100 appointments are available through Action Cancer House and the Big Bus which travels across Northern Ireland spending a month at a time in each Board area. For every 1000 women screened, the charity detects on average 7 new breast cancers.

In addition to encouraging women to sign up for screening, Gordons Chemist stores across Northern Ireland fundraised a phenomenal 30,300 by selling raffle tickets and pink ribbon pin badges.

A Breast Action Day was held across all areas which staff used to dress themselves and their stores in pink in an attempt to maximise donations and awareness. The total fundraising figure since the start of the partnership has now reached over 106,000, which has helped over 1500 women be screened.

The campaign also involved radio advertising and media coverage through the Belfast Telegraph to encourage a further 2,000 women to sign up for screening. It is estimated that there are 128,000 women aged 40-49 and 102,000 women aged 70 and over in Northern Ireland who are eligible to use Action Cancer’s screening service.

Kerry McCrea of Action Cancer said, “The efforts of Gordons Chemists employees have been fantastic and importantly the partnership raises awareness of the importance of early detection. Any one of these screenings can be life-saving so a huge thank you to all involved for your support.”

Joanne Henderson, Pharmacy Practice Coordinator at Gordons Chemists said “We are delighted to be associated with this vital and life-saving campaign. With 51 stores across NI we actively engage with whole communities through high impact health promotions throughout the year. We look forward to developing our relationship with Action Cancer throughout the year.”

For more information about Action Cancer’s breast screening and support services, please call 028 9080 3344.