A scheme to encourage Muslim women in Glasgow to take up cancer screening is set to expand.
The three-year project, run jointly by the Universities of Glasgow and Sunderland with £337,000 worth of funding from Cancer Research UK, aims to reach women in Muslim communities with information to help them make informed choices.
Uptake of routine cancer checks such as smear tests and mammograms is lower among women in the Muslim community compared to the general population.
The disparity prompted the researchers to launch a pilot in 2020 with the aim of increasing screening attendance in Scotland.
READ MORE: Scot Govt pledges to cut late-stage cancer diagnoses
The team identified several reasons for lower uptake which included not knowing about the screening, feeling shy, or being worried about seeing a male doctor.
After positive feedback from pilot participants, the organisers now hope to reach hundreds more women in Glasgow and the North East of England.
Co-lead Professor Katie Robb, Professor of Behavioural Science and Health, at the School of Health and Wellbeing at the University of Glasgow, said: “We ran a pilot scheme with a small number of women in 2020 which was well received by those who took part.
“This funding will allow us to expand the scheme so we can reach more women and share knowledge about early screening.
“Our aim is to empower women in Muslim communities with the knowledge they need as screening can be crucial to detecting cancer early when it is most treatable with the best chance of a successful outcome.”
The project, which was designed with Muslim women in Scotland, will run until December 2025.
READ MORE: Cancer in Scotland - what's happening with waiting times, incidence, and deaths?
The first phase will involve workshops run both online and in-person to discuss potential barriers to women taking up screening opportunities, as well as expert-led health education sessions and videos of Muslim women's experiences of cancer or screening.
A religious perspective on cancer screening will also be delivered by a Cerysh Sadiq, a research assistant in the school of medicine who is also an Alimah - a female religious Muslim scholar.
The second phase will see the researchers carrying out surveys to evaluate whether knowledge and attitudes about screening are changing, followed by a third and final stage where they will assess whether screening uptake has increased.
It is hoped the results from the project will allow lessons learned to be transferred to other cancer screening - for example, male bowel screening - as well as to other ethnic minority groups.
Ms Sadiq, from the University of Sunderland, said: "Women can be uncertain as to how screening fits in with their faith, and it will be a great privilege to help guide women and assist with any religious concerns they may have about cervical, breast and bowel cancer screening."
There are three cancer screening programmes in Scotland.
Bowel cancer screening is available for everyone aged 50-74 in Scotland every two years; breast screening for all women aged 50-70; and cervical screening for women aged 25-64.
READ MORE: Why are cancer deaths lower in 2022 than before Covid?
Screening enables cancers to be detected at an early stage when they most treatable, and potentially curable.
In some cases it can also prevent cancers from developing in the first place.
Michelle Mitchell, Cancer Research UK chief executive, said: “Tackling inequalities is absolutely crucial to ensuring everyone, regardless of where they live or their ethnic background, has the best chance against cancer.
“We know people from ethnic minorities may be less likely to respond to cancer screening invitations and hopefully this project will encourage more people to take up such opportunities, and to find out what barriers prevent them doing so.
“Removing these barriers could save lives by catching cancer early when treatment is most likely to be effective.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel