PRISONERS in Worcestershire have been learning about the symptoms of bowel cancer as part of a drive to raise awareness of the disease.

Care UK has joined forces with Bowel Cancer UK to raise awareness among prisoners of the disease that kills more than 16,000 in the UK each year.

Anika Pepper, regional health promotion lead for Care UK’s Health in Justice, which runs healthcare in prisons nationally, said: “Although bowel cancer can affect anyone, men over 50 have an increased risk of developing the condition.

“Because of the nature of the symptoms, some people may be embarrassed at talking about their concerns. Bowel cancer, when caught early, has excellent treatment prognosis

“We wanted to bring Bowel Cancer UK into prisons to raise awareness of the signs and symptoms, risk factors and the importance of taking part in the screening programme.

“We hope that by explaining the symptoms we will encourage those who are experiencing symptoms to come forward, and with an ageing prison population this is ever more important. We also hope that on their release they will be able to share what they have learned with friends and family.”

Bowel Cancer UK volunteer, Tracey Johnson is going into prisons to train inmates as health champions.

Tracey, who has had her own journey with bowel cancer, has received very positive feedback from talks so far. She said: “They were all extremely engaged and interested, asking questions throughout the presentation and I know from the feedback that they valued hearing from someone who had been through the experience.

“The healthcare champions will now be able to speak to other prisoners on their wings or in their work places to promote knowledge of the symptoms, the next step and hereditary bowel cancer screening.”

The symptoms of bowel cancer include: bleeding from your bottom and/or blood in your stools; a persistent and unexplained change in bowel habit; unexplained weight loss; extreme tiredness for no obvious reason; and a pain or lump in your tummy.