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00:00Britain's Princess of Wales, Kate Middleton, has been praised for the video released Monday
00:04announcing that she'd finished preventative chemotherapy treatment.
00:09It came some six months after she dramatically revealed in another video that she was being
00:13treated for an undisclosed type of cancer.
00:16Now while sharing the Royal Family's medical updates may seem invasive or like fodder for
00:20the gossip pages, it actually has a real public health benefit.
00:24Kate's initial announcement of her diagnosis sparked a surge in visits to cancer charity
00:29websites as well as to the UK's National Health Service.
00:32Well for more we can speak to Tali Martini, the Chief Executive Officer at Breast Cancer
00:37UK.
00:38Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us.
00:41First, does your organisation tend to observe an uptick in visits or donations after public
00:46figures like Kate Middleton speak publicly about cancer diagnoses?
00:50Yes, absolutely and thanks for having me.
00:55At Breast Cancer UK what we notice is that when high profile figures such as Kate Middleton
01:00or the many others that are now speaking much more candidly about their cancer diagnosis,
01:05when they speak up about their cancer we see a notable increase in the demand for breast
01:10cancer information, in particular prevention information because that's the information
01:14we provide.
01:16So we have a prevention quiz for example, so we see a much larger uptake in our prevention
01:20quiz and that allows people to look at ways in which they can produce their own breast
01:25cancer prevention plan.
01:27So we see this as being very good news really, this move and this shift really in attitude
01:33that a lot of high profile figures have now in talking candidly about the struggles that
01:38they go through and appealing directly to the public is good news because what it does
01:43is it helps raise awareness and the more people are aware about cancer the more motivated
01:49they might be firstly to seek out advice, to go to a health professional where they
01:54need to but importantly to look at ways in which they can start to protect themselves
01:58from certain cancers such as breast cancer because we know that with breast cancer around
02:0430% of cases can be prevented but awareness is the first thing that gets people to the
02:09information that we provide and to help them make those changes.
02:14And do you think that with the rise of social media perhaps people are becoming more comfortable
02:18speaking out about intimate issues including cancer diagnoses or does the topic remain
02:23somewhat taboo?
02:25Well I certainly think social media and the influence of many of the celebrities recently
02:31have come out, some of whom have been fairly young or very outspoken, that certainly does
02:37reduce the taboo.
02:38I think the only issue really to highlight sometimes is that there can be misinformation
02:44and the first place we tell people to go to is to trusted places such as the NHS or charities
02:50such as ours where we produce scientifically feedbacked information because while it's
02:54a great thing to talk about cancer and to look at ways in which we can deal with cancer
03:00issues it's also really important to be properly informed.
03:03And when you say that is there any kind of specific piece of misinformation that you're
03:07thinking of that maybe you want to debunk?
03:10Well I think there are lots of myths that are out there and people can start to panic.
03:14So if you look at breast cancer which is our area, some myths that people might hear about
03:19is things like underwire bra for example, if I wear an underwire bra can that increase
03:24my risk?
03:25And there could be a number of other things, other rumours that go around and these things
03:29can be very easily propagated on things like social media.
03:33So when in doubt we always say go to the NHS, really trusted place, come to Breast Cancer
03:38UK and other trusted cancer charities to make sure that you understand the facts when
03:43it comes to any cancer diagnosis.
03:47And when it comes to breast cancer prevention we have lots of information and practical
03:51support we can offer people.
03:53So what we want people to do is to be informed, not panic because sometimes there could be
03:59information out there that isn't reliable and some high profile figures might say things
04:05about ways of avoiding treatment for example and what we say to people is that every case
04:10is individual and please make sure you go to a trusted source.
04:14And just how important is early detection in terms of increasing survival rates when
04:19it comes to breast cancer?
04:20Well breast cancer actually, we've had some tremendous advances over the past 50 years
04:26in treatment and care which means that early diagnosis is key to ensuring that people can
04:32make a full recovery because the chances of a full recovery with breast cancer is very
04:36high provided that we detect a cancer as soon as possible.
04:41So there are lots of things that we talk about in terms of protecting ourselves so there
04:46are prevention steps we can take such as making sure that we have a healthy diet, that we
04:51are physically active but also that we know our breasts, that we check our breasts and
04:56when in doubt go and speak to your health professional because if a breast cancer is
05:01detected early there's a very, very good chance that the treatment outcomes will be really
05:06positive.
05:07Earlier this year US health authorities lowered the recommended age for the first breast cancer
05:13screening to 40.
05:14Is that in line with your organisation's guidelines as well and why has it been shifted to younger
05:21women?
05:22That's not the guidelines in the UK.
05:25In the UK, 50 is the age when women first get called to the NHS for their screening
05:31programme and there's lots of new science and new research now happening into screening
05:36programmes and potentially looking at people who have a higher risk, they may be invited
05:43for screening earlier on, so people who have the family history for example but in terms
05:48of the general population, one thing about breast cancer is that it's a disease that
05:53becomes more prevalent the older we get so age is a really key factor and that is what
05:59influences also the screening programme in the UK.
06:02So in the UK it's 50 and we support the screening programme in the UK and we recommend people
06:09once you are called up for your screening from the age of 50 onwards then we recommend
06:14that you take it up.
06:16And what's your advice to people for staying on top of their cancer screenings because
06:20I think when people believe that they're healthy that's something that they might not be prioritising.
06:26Yes well I mean in the UK people are called up so they will receive a letter, an invitation
06:31to go to their screening but just generally being aware of breast cancer risk so as I
06:36mentioned earlier on, if we are aware about ways in which we can reduce our risk so for
06:42example as I said eating a healthy diet, being involved in regular physical activity, checking
06:48our breasts, making sure that we check our breasts about once a month at the same time
06:52every month so that we can detect any changes and then going to see our GPs if we do see
06:58a change.
06:59But keeping on top is really about taking up that invitation.
07:03Once the invitation comes through go along and have your breast screening because as
07:08I said early detection is key and also a lot of breast cancers are discovered by people
07:13themselves through regular breast checking.
07:16Alright Tali Martini, thank you again so much for joining us today.
07:20That's Tali Martini, the Chief Executive Officer at Breast Cancer UK.
07:24And it's time now for a look...