September is Urology Awareness Month

Today marks the start of Urology Awareness Month, an annual campaign which aims to raise awareness of urological diseases and encourage further research.

What is urological disease?

You may not have heard the term ‘urological’ before, but it essentially refers to conditions that affect the urinary tract system and male reproductive organs. It includes cancerous disease like prostate, bladder and kidney cancer, but also non-malignant conditions like urinary tract infections (UTIs).

This year, The Urology Foundation (TUF) are raising awareness of bladder health. They will be hosting webinars and wellbeing sessions with the aim of educating people on UTIs, urinary incontinence and bladder cancer.

Why awareness is so important

One of TUF’s main goals is to help people recognise the signs of urological diseases. There is still some stigma and embarrassment around urological conditions, which makes it even more important to talk about the symptoms people should be looking out for.

Urology Awareness Week is also about sharing the latest science with medical professionals. Their hope is that with the right training, doctors will be better equipped to diagnose patients earlier. This is especially important with urological cancers, as early diagnosis can increase the chance of survival.

TUF is continuously looking for new ways to treat and cure urological conditions. And through their fundraising, they invest in research that could improve the lives of people living with urological diseases.

How you can get involved

There are many ways to get involved with this year’s Urology Awareness Month, but here are just a few:

• Host a health and wellbeing session
  This could be in your workplace or local community centre. The aim is to get people thinking about their own health and what they should be looking out for. You can contact TUF to find out how to set this up, or arrange for one of their speakers to visit.
• Fundraise or make a donation
  Consider putting on a fundraising event for your friends, family and colleagues. You could dress up in the colour purple to represent the charity, organise a bake sale or set up a quiz night.
• Visit a roadshow
  TUF will be holding two community roadshows this year, one on 28 September and one on 4 October. You can find more details on when and where these will be taking place on the TUF website.

If you’re not able to do any of the above, you could always raise awareness on social media. Post a message of support or upload a short video. TUF have put together a guide full of statistics you can share – just in case you’re not sure where to start.

At First4Lawyers, we’ve helped thousands of people with medical negligence claims, so we understand the importance of awareness and early diagnosis. If you haven’t received the care you deserved, we could provide guidance and support. Just give us a call or start your claim online.