World Ovarian Cancer Day 2024
The NHS has predicted to end cervical cancer by 2040. At the same time, 4.5 million women will die of ovarian cancer across the world.
The earlier ovarian cancer is detected, the better chance a woman has of survival. Unlike cervical cancer though, there is currently no screening tool to detect the disease.
But thanks to our researcher's work to understand how ovarian cancer starts, we at Ovarian Cancer Action are on the brink of developing the world’s first ovarian cancer screening tool.
Pledge your support this World Ovarian Cancer Day and help us fight for more research into a screening tool. Sign up below to find out how we're working to create the same outcome as cervical cancer for ovarian cancer.
Pledge your support this World Ovarian Cancer Day
Previous World Ovarian Cancer Day Campaigns
Take a look at the various campaigns and how we've used World Ovarian Cancer Day to springboard some of our most important messages.
A white rose with a message in 2018
In 2018, we decided that traditional ways of raising awareness of ovarian cancer weren’t having as much impact as we wanted.
With the help of volunteers we handed out 7,400 white roses around the UK to represent the 7,400 women diagnosed with ovarian cancer in the UK each year. Each rose had a tag tied to the stem with information about the symptoms of ovarian cancer and a request to photograph the rose and share online.
Female celebrities and influencers also lent their support by sharing photos of white rose bouquets with symptoms cards attached, kindly donated by our partner Bloom & Wild. Together they reached more than a million followers with this vital information.
Taking things to the next level in 2019
Following the previous year’s success, in 2019 we decided to go one stage further, recruiting volunteers from around the country to hand out 33,000 roses. Each rose served to represent a British woman living with the disease and act as a symbol of hope for a world without ovarian cancer.
Our CEO Cary Wakefield kicked off World Ovarian Cancer Day, joining supporter Anna Szalay on the BBC Breakfast sofa. 19 year old Anna spoke eloquently about her experience of ovarian cancer, and Cary explained why earlier diagnosis is so vital if we’re to see an improvement in survival rates in the UK.
Some incredible influencers again lent their support, including Hannah Witton and Maisie Hill. We also saw politicians (including Prime Minister Theresa May) in England, Scotland, and Wales uniting behind the campaign. They wore white roses and pledged their support for earlier diagnosis.
A year like no other in 2020
2020 was a year that no one could have planned for. We were determined to launch our third white rose campaign for World Ovarian Cancer Day, and that's exactly what we did, with a twist. As real life events were cancelled, we adapted our campaign to be completely digital and span the whole month of May.
We asked you to create and share your own white roses, whether it was a drawing, origami, or knitting, alongside the symptoms of ovarian cancer to raise awareness. You did not disappoint! We saw roses made of everything from knickers to mashed potato, and everything in between.
Hiding in plain sight in 2021
We shook things up in 2021. We're always working towards a world where no woman dies of ovarian cancer because it's the UK’s deadliest gynaecological disease and survival rates are shockingly low.
On World Ovarian Cancer Day (8th May) we highlighted the impact of ovarian cancer in an eye catching and bold way across social media to reach millions of people with the message the cancer is hiding in plain sight.