Thanks to the gracious invitation by the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC), we attended the esteemed World Cancer Congress this year, and delivered two sessions. After our virtual session on the inclusion of transgender communities in cancer care, The Guardian approached our CEO and Founder, Stewart O’Callaghan, to better understand barriers experienced by transgender patients.

Taking the opportunity at hand, we felt it was important to address the systemic barriers to screening that affect thousands of transgender patients every year. The article highlights how due to the gender marker recall system in NHS screening programmes, transgender patients may miss routine breast and cervical screenings, adding the burden to self-advocate for their screening. 

At OUTpatients, we believe there is an urgent need to ensure these systemic barriers are addressed as soon as possible and do not carry over into screening innovations like HPV self-screening. We need to make sure that these issues are addressed now so that no-one is left behind in our goals for cancer early detection, prevention, and elimination. A potential solution would include having both gender and the sex registered at birth.

We appreciate the support from The Guardian for covering these important issues and raising them with new audiences, making more people aware of LGBTIQ+ barriers in cancer care. 

Read the article here. 

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If you want to collaborate with us or have an article idea to explore, please feel free to reach out to our Engagement Lead, Raktim (he/him), here.