Breakthrough Breast Cancer and the ‘Every Chance’ campaign, on age equality
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Evidence is now emerging that shows older women with breast cancer are significantly less likely to get evidence based treatment than they should, missing out on surgery, chemotherapy or radiotherapy. One of our leading and usually media savvy breast cancer charities - Breakthrough Breast Cancer – is campaigning to ensure treatment is based on clinical need, not age.
Their figures from their press release bear repetition:
- Women with breast cancer aged over 80 are 40 times less likely to receive surgery than younger patients
- Where surgery does take place, older women are significantly less likely to receive breast conserving surgery
- Older women are significantly less likely to receive standard treatments such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy than younger women
No quibble there. These are powerful numbers and a significant argument that the care women with breast cancer aged over 70 are receiving should be vigourously questioned. Breakthrough’s Every Chance campaign is calling for treatment to be based on need and wants to open the debate around age equality. All breast cancer patients regardless of age should have the chance:
- to get the treatments and care that will benefit them
- to get on appropriate clinical trials
- to make informed choices about their treatment
The risk of breast cancer increases with age and currently a third of all breast cancers occur in women aged 70 and over. Obviously fair treatment must be available to all. And that simply hasn't been happening.
And then things go slightly awry.
Apparently Breakthrough Breast Cancer hope to use the Every Chance campaign to open the debate as to why some older breast cancer patients are treated differently.
The media, reflecting the mores of wider society, is youth obsessed, that’s why.
And, blow me down, if Breakthrough aren’t partners in the most youth obsessed part of it - the fashion industry. With stunning lack of self awareness they trumpet that Fashion Targets Breast Cancer has raised over £10.5 million for Breakthrough Breast Cancer’s research, campaigning and education work. Their supporters, top British retailers, and bespoke fashion pieces “that make you look good and feel even better”, raise enormous amounts for Breakthrough Breast Cancer. But it won't be by using imagery involving the wrinklier faces of breast cancer, the 80% of women who get it past the age of 50. Forty might be pushing it too, though I see Kylie Minogue, an atypical women of 40+ and an atypical breast cancer patient, is associated with it.
So why are older women with breast cancer so badly let down? I don’t know, Breakthrough Breast Cancer, what do you think? Could it be the way breast cancer charities have helped 'place' breast cancer in the media? Sure, you need media coverage for PR and fundraising purposes but that's the narrow corporate brand and profile twaddle, nothing directly to do with improving things for the 'user group' who are mostly women. Every women counts and older women as well as older women with breast cancer need to be reflected in coverage. If Breakthrough thinks it leads the sector it should take a stand and lead the charge into the media in support of older women.
Which objective has fallen by the wayside? Going for sexier PR or championing older women. You decide....
You could unpack your media savvy and PR skills to raise the expectations of older women with breast cancer and make a start on altering society's view of older women. And open up the field for men. And then people with other cancers. They will be suffering from ageism to the same or a greater extent. Ageism won't be the fate of women with breast cancer alone.
If a third of all breast cancer stories in the media featured women aged 70 and over, mirroring the incidence of breast cancer, we wouldn’t need a campaign on fair treatment. Not delivering treatment fairly would never have been an option because the women would have been highly visible.
The problem of ageism in cancer treatment is, largely, created by youth obsession. You are culpable, Breakthrough. Some of it will be because Fashion Targets Breast Cancer, and that’s YOU, you maroons!
