Photocall: 10.00am 3rd October 2005, College Green, opposite Houses of Parliament, Westminster. 10.20am sharp.

The Big See – Women wearing pink ribbon blindfolds (for breast cancer awareness month) will strip them off to show they are not blindfolded by the UK Government and the ‘cancer establishment’ to the links between chemicals and cancer.

The UK Government and the ‘cancer establishment’ have today been charged with blindfolding women to the truth about breast cancer, by refusing to acknowledge or take action on the links between chemicals and the disease. The campaigning charity ‘Women’s Environmental Network’ (WEN) and UNISON, the UK’s largest union with over one million women members are today (3rd October) launching a campaign, ‘The Big See Challenge’, to call for tighter controls on cancer causing chemicals.

Almost 300 women in the UK die of breast cancer every week, and at least 750 women hear they have it. A growing mountain of research points the finger at chemicals in the environment and in everyday products such as cosmetics and toiletries, plastics, household cleaners and furnishings (note 1).

“The Big See”, campaign will kick off a month of action to expose the failure of governments to act to protect women from exposure to suspect chemicals. Pink ribbons are the symbol of breast cancer ‘awareness’ month, promoted every October by cancer charities. During the WEN/UNISON campaign launch, people will be asked to wear and remove pink ribbon blindfolds, to demonstrate they can see the bigger picture about cancer.

WEN’s Campaigns Co-ordinator, Helen Lynn, said:

“We feel women are being blindfolded into believing breast cancer is inevitable. But only 5-10% of breast cancers are linked to inherited genes, and up to 70% of cancers have not been linked to the risk factors we are constantly told about. There is strong evidence that much of the pollution we are exposed to, and chemicals in products we use on a daily basis, are linked to breast cancer. The Government has yet to acknowledge this connection.”

Sharon Greene, UNISON’s National Women’s Officer added:

“We want to challenge our decision-makers and those with power to take action to prevent these cancers occurring. We cannot just accept 300 women dying every week. As individuals there’s a limit to what we can do to protect ourselves against breast cancer, UNISON wants our 1.3 million members to lobby MEPs to clean up our environment by voting for strong REACH legislation, and get our own Government to take action.”

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the UK, and one in nine women will develop it in their lifetime; a ratio that increased from one in 12 in just five years (note 2).

WEN and UNISON do not want people to stop giving to cancer charities, nor to take away from the detection, treatment and care of breast cancer. The document highlights the need to change the focus, from genetic research (genetic predisposition accounts for less than 10% of cases) and development of drugs to block the disease and do more on action to reduce exposure to environmental contributory factors.

The campaign aims to shake up people’s views about breast cancer, and stop the Government being complacent about its ‘cancer forever’ policies. Throughout the month members of WEN and UNISON will be sharing incontrovertible evidence that man-made chemicals routinely released into our environment are a major cause of breast cancer.

ENDS

Contacts

WEN – Helen Lynn, Campaigns Co-ordinator, 020 7481 9004/07957 408 303 (mob)
health@wen.org.uk
UNISON – Sharon Greene, National Women’s Officer, 020 7551 1355
S.Greene@unison.co.uk www.unison.org.uk

Notes to Editors:
1. Many of the chemicals are known or suspected carcinogens or hormone disrupters. More than 300 synthetic chemicals have been found in human breast milk.

2. Cancer Research UK; Office of National Statistics.

3. MEPs will be lobbied to support REACH, proposed European legislation to regulate the use of chemicals in products. If passed REACH will replace a hotchpotch of existing legislation and, for the first time, require basic safety data on manufactured chemicals and set a framework for the banning or control of chemicals of most concern. See www.wecf.org/reach

4. The Big See is informed by ‘Breast Cancer: an environmental disease – the case for primary prevention’, which sets out the evidence. Produced by a coalition including WEN and part-funded by UNISON, it is published on 28 September. Find it at www.nomorebreastcancer.org.uk.
WEN is a national membership charity that campaigns on environmental and health issues from a woman’s perspective. For more on its work on breast cancer and the environment see: www.wen.org.uk/health. UNISON is the UK’s largest public sector union. It has 1.3 million members, and over 1 million are women.