Member's statement: Cancer Research UK: Screening Awareness Campaign
Member's statement by Mrs Diane Dodds on .
- MLA
- Mrs Diane Dodds
- Party at the time
- Democratic Unionist Party
- Date
- 17 February 2025
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- Cancer Research UK: Screening Awareness Campaign
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4802364
Read the official Assembly record
Text
This afternoon, I will highlight Cancer Research UK's cancer screening awareness campaign, which is launching today. Over the next six weeks, Members are likely to see the campaign on television, buses, billboards and in cinemas, providing the essential message that, if you are invited for screening, you should not ignore the letter. Whilst I recognise that some issues about past screening performance have been highlighted over recent months, they should not detract from the importance of attending appointments to get checked out. The Public Health Agency (PHA) has helped to co-produce the campaign so that the right messages are reaching the right people, and GPs have taken time to help inform the campaign. We know that screening is an important way to help prevent cancer and find it at an early stage when treatment is more likely to be successful. In Northern Ireland, more than 60% of cancers that have been diagnosed through a screening route were caught at stage 1, which suggests that screening is a positive and effective route to finding cancers at an earlier stage. However, we also know that screening uptake could be improved in Northern Ireland, especially for bowel screening, where only 58% of people who are invited for screening take the test. I was delighted to hear the Minister say at the Health Committee last week that he intends to extend the bowel screening campaign. Only two thirds of women who are invited for cervical screening respond, and a quarter of those who are invited for breast screening do not take the opportunity. One of the ways that we can improve uptake is by addressing key barriers to participation, such as a lack of awareness that screening is for people without symptoms, feelings of embarrassment and concerns about pain and discomfort. The Cancer Research UK campaign seeks to increase informed participation in screening by addressing those misconceptions. It is an incredibly important campaign, and I hope that we will all be able to publicise it and use it as part of our duty to inform the public about this important service.
347 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Jev’s structured answers met the documented threshold for “not flagged”.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.02 (flagging needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not flagged).
- None of the five culture-war criteria was met (each was below 0.60).
- No identity-based framing was identified (1.00).
- The overall probability was at or below the not-flagging threshold.
This is an AI-generated assessment of the text, made against published criteria. It is not a finding of fact about the MLA or their intentions. The Assembly record itself is the fact.
Jev’s structured answers
| Question | Probability | Met? |
|---|---|---|
| Identity framing | 0.02 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.01 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.01 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.01 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.02 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.59 | No |
| Overall judgement | 0.02 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 1.00 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.00 |
| Adopts it | 0.00 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-related subject | 0.80 |
| Sexism, misogyny, ageism and other equality groups | 0.13 |
| Gender, sexuality, abortion and related social issues | 0.05 |
| Disability (including neurodivergence and mental health), disabled people and disability or sickness benefits | 0.01 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 11:57 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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