Cancer communication: the health promotion challenge

The way of communicating messages about cancer is the essence of this paper. There is a challenge to promote health, and demystify misconceptions about cancer and its treatment. But how do you reach those who seldom read or who are illiterate? How do you convince people that early presentation of symptoms that may be caused by cancer can positively influence outcome? How can you present a practical and realistic message about life-style factors and cancer? This paper explains initiatives in the UK to address some of these issues. The role of research and evaluation is important, but so are the ethical issues when you may be trying to persuade and convince the public of the benefits of life-style change. Finally, the issue of training of health professionals is addressed.