Hi All,

I just found out this is

" Mouth/Oral Cancer Awareness Week "
in the United Kingdom.
With lots of info available to the public.

Do we have this here in the USA?
If yes, when is it?
If not.... can we make it happen?
Marica

Hi All
There has been a terrific response from the media over this. Oral cancer sufferers have been on the TV, giving talks in school, trying to educate people about the causes of oral cancer.
So if us Brits can do it I'm sure the Yanks can do it better!!!!!!
Sunshine... love and hugs
Helen

Marica,

There is an Oral Cancer Awareness Week in April every year. Next year I believe it is the week of April 17-21.

Barb

Thanks Barb,
I wish we could get as much publicity as the UK seems to get!
Marica

Well, in New York City, a group of teaching hospitals and dental schools has formed a group called the Oral Cancer Consortium and they do free oral cancer screenings on the Thursday of that week at different sites throughout the city of New York, the state of New York and New Jersey. The get some media attention on the most watched news station in New York City, newspapers, etc., and have some success. This year they are really trying to make it much more successful -- significantly increase the number of screenings done -- and I am trying to help them.

You could bring some attention to it in your area by contacting the health reporter at your local paper (if you are in Atlanta, may this might not work, but if you are in a smaller community, it might), letting them know about oral cancer awareness week, telling your husband's story, how important early detection is, tell about the oral cancer foundation. Reporters are always looking for stories and they might take you up on it and help spread the word about early detection.

Give it a try -- if we all try, we could make a big difference.

Barb

I know people tend to visit the board here regularly but frequently neglect to wander around the tons of pages of the main web site. http://www.oralcancerfoundation.org/events/index.htm

Please note that I have spent alot of time via OCF to asssemble many of the organizations you see listed here. While I feel it is important to make this one week a big splash, I am concerned that as we build this, oral cancer gets forgotten the rest of the year by just about all these participants. Don't forget if you recruit a hospital, dental school, etc. to tell then to contact OCF for the literature to hand out during their screening event., and informatikon we can provide them about how to hold a successful event.