Stephen Fry Participates in New NHS Campaign to Promote Cancer Screenings

Stephen Fry, the narrator of the British versions of the Harry Potter audiobooks, has joined a new campaign from England’s National Health Service (NHS) to encourage the public to undergo cancer screenings.

Pharmacy Business reports that Fry, who was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2018, appears in a new video for the “Help Us, Help You” campaign alongside other cancer survivors. A press release from the NHS England website provides more information about the campaign.

You can watch the campaign video embedded below.

In the video, Fry comments that he was “pretty stunned” by his prostate cancer diagnosis but was fortunate that the cancer was caught early. He additionally discusses the importance of making an appointment with your doctor if you notice certain symptoms.

All of us can succumb to cancers in the abdominal region, but there are symptoms that can be looked for. Self-examination is a pretty useful thing, so please, make an appointment with your GP if you notice discomfort in the tummy area or diarrhoea for three weeks or more, or blood in your pee – even just once.

The NHS England website adds that many people remain unaware that some gastrointestinal symptoms can be signs of cancer.

More than one in four people (29%) did not know that tummy troubles and diarrhoea for three weeks or more could be a sign of cancer, while more than a third (36%) mistook it as a sign of getting older.

For more information about the “Help Us, Help You” campaign, visit the NHS England website. The NHS also has more information on the signs and symptoms of cancer.