The General Practitioner and Lay Education in Cancer

Health Education and General Practice

“…In an enquiry initiated by the British Empire Cancer Campaign (Horder, 1953), only 24% of doctors responded, and of these about half were opposed to the idea of cancer education of the public (of unspecified form and content), whereas not one of the family doctors in a region where the Manchester scheme had been running for five years was opposed (Wakefield & Davison, 1958). For one thing, these doctors were expressing opinions based on experience of the effects of the educational programme; but there can be no doubt that their favourable attitudes also stemmed from the original explanatory discussions.…”

An Answer to Some Criticisms of Cancer Education

“…In January, 1957, the Manchester Committee on Cancer completed the fifth year of an experiment in public education about cancer (Paterson et al, 1954 (Horder, 1953 suggesting that to describe five-year survival afterrmastectomy as a " cure " is to mislead the public. He agreed that there may be value in concentrating on other accessible sites -skin, cervix uteri, and bladder.…”

“…Some idea of the prevalence of this attitude to public education may be gained from the results of a survey carried out in 1953 by the British Empire Cancer Campaign (Horder, 1953). All general practitioners were asked if they considered that " the launching of a scheme of lay educational propaganda on cancer (by pamphlet, lectures, films, etc.)…”