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Source: ONE News -
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September is the Silver Ribbon Foundation's gynaecological cancer awareness month, aimed at getting New Zealand women talking about an issue that, while rarely talked about, affects hundreds of women every year.
Nearly 900 New Zealand women are diagnosed each year with some form of gynaecological cancer, but conversations about it were usually confined to the doctor's office, Silver Ribbon co-founder Rachel Coates said.
A celebrity "Care-and-Share" event at Waikato's Lake Karapiro on September 11 as well as a number of small talks throughout the country, will put an emphasis on education and awareness of the different kinds of gynaecological cancer.
"It's really just trying to get women comfortable with talking about gynaecological cancer," Coates says.
"The best way to do that is to sit around with your friends and people you're comfortable with and getting used to the words and terminology and discussing something that is usually very private."
Coates says while New Zealand women were becoming increasingly aware of cervical cancer, there was still a gap in the public's knowledge about symptoms and treatments of other gynaecological cancers, such as ovarian, uterine and vulval cancer.
Rower and cancer survivor 26-year-old Fiona Paterson will be hosting the Care-and-Share event and said awareness and conversation was important to understanding gynaecological cancer.
"It's time we talked about our girly bits, and as a young cancer survivor, I'm happy to be the first to do so."
