Cade Lucas
These days the colour teal is often associated with the political independent movement which won a swag of seats at the last federal election.
With another election just months away, the link between this particular shade of green and independent MPs such as Monique Ryan, Zoe Daniel and Allegra Spender is likely to only grow stronger.
But during February at least, teal will be associated with another, very different cause.
February is national ovarian cancer awareness month and teal is the colour traditionally associated with this disease just as pink is synonymous with breast cancer.
“It’s a really significant event in our calendar,” said acting national advocacy manager with Ovarian Cancer Australia, Bridget Bradhurst of the national awareness month which aims to educate Australians on the disease, advocate for those impacted by ovarian cancer and elevate their voices as well as raising funds for research.
Ms Bradhurst said these aims were particularly important given the disease remained widely misunderstood.
“It does remain the deadliest of the gynecological cancers,” she said of ovarian cancer, which also has the lowest survival rate of any women’s cancer and a five year survival rate well below the average for all cancers.
Along with it being more deadly than is widely assumed, Ms Bradhurst said another common misconception about ovarian cancer was that there was an effective early detection test for it.
“People still get confused between cervical cancer and ovarian cancer so sometimes women mistakenly think that if they’ve kept up with their cervical screening – which is very important to do – that that is also protecting them against ovarian cancer and unfortunately that is just not the case. We still don’t have any effective methods of picking ovarian cancer up early,” she said.
“Another one is that people don’t understand is that some ovarian cancer is hereditary and there is family risk involved,” said Ms Bradhurst, adding that discussing risks with close family and relatives was vital.
“Women’s business hasn’t historically been something that people have been comfortable to discuss but without people really understanding their family history they can’t begin to understand their own risk of the disease.”
Even without these misunderstandings, battling ovarian cancer can be tough, with symptoms and warning signs often vague and hard to detect.
Fortunately for those who are diagnosed, Ovarian Cancer Australia has invested in dedicated team of nurses who specialise in treating the disease.
The appropriately titled Teal Support Nurse Program is a free, national telehealth service connecting ovarian cancer sufferers and survivors with trained oncology and gynaecological nurses.
Beginning as a pilot program in 2019, the teal nurses now receive federal funding to provide a free service nationwide.
Ms Bradhurst said the nationwide approach was why it was a telehealth service.
“We’ve done that deliberately to ensure women don’t fall through the cracks,” she said, noting that similar services were now available for other cancers.
“The cancer landscape changing, it’s no longer one size fits all, but more targeted.”
For more information about ovarian cancer awareness month, visit: www.ovariancancer.net.au/get-involved/ovarian-cancer-awareness-month
For information on the teal support nurse program: www.ovariancancer.net.au/find-support/teal-support-nurse-program
