Healthcare awareness days and weeks occur throughout the year. Here is a selection of events that you might find useful.
healthcare awareness calendar 2014
1. January – National Obesity Awareness Week 12/01/2015 – 18/01/2015. Obesity is a major UK public health problem. A quarter of children leaving primary school are now obese www.noaw2014.org.uk.
2. February – World Cancer Day 2015 will take a positive and proactive approach to the fight against cancer www.worldcancerday.org.
3. March – Prostate Cancer Awareness Month raises awareness and shows how to choose the right services www.prostate-cancer.org.uk .
4. April – Bowel Cancer Awareness Month driven by Bowel Cancer UK, aims to save lives and improve the quality of life for all those affected by bowel cancer www.bowelcanceruk.org.uk.
5. May – M.E. Awareness Week, Action for M.E. is an organisation led by people with M.E., for people with M.E. www.actionforme.org.uk.
6. June – Motor Neurone Disease (MND) Awareness Month. MND is a progressive disease that attacks the motor neurones, or nerves, in the brain and spinal cord www.mndassociation.org.
7. July– National Transplant Week encourages to join the NHS Organ Donor Register www.transplantweek.co.uk.
8. August – is traditionally a quiet time and there are tends to be no high profile, public facing health awareness campaigns.
9. September – Blue September is a fun way of delivering a serious message about ‘facing up to cancer in men’ driven by the Urology Foundation 01/09/14 – 30/09/14 www.blueseptember.org.uk.
10. October – Breast Cancer Awareness Month profiles those affected by breast cancer to bring people together and provide information and support, and campaign for improved standards of care 01/10/14 – 31/10/14 www.breastcancercare.org.uk
11. November – Movember, Men’s Health Awareness Month 01/11/14 – 30/11/14, helps men understand facts like the prostate is usually the size and shape of a walnut, to find out more www.prostate-cancer.org.uk
12. December – Decembeard ‘Beating Bowel Cancer’ is about promoting bowel cancer, also known as colorectal cancer or colon cancer, it is any cancer that affects the colon 01/12/14 www.beatingbowelcancer.org/decembeard
Days/weeks vary slightly from year to year. We’ve selected a number of events but there are many others wrapped around these. Share your thoughts in the section below or on Twitter.
