Thursday 19 May 2022 06:07 PM NHS removes word 'women' from ovarian and womb cancer advice pages trends now
Official NHS advice about ovarian, womb and cervix cancers have quietly removed the word 'women' from their webpages, MailOnline can reveal.
The term was missing from the landing pages of three sections explaining cancers only found in biological women.
It comes amid ongoing concerns about trans-inclusive language in NHS guidance, with services currently in a 'woke' storm about de-gendering language surrounding women and pregnancy by erasing terms like breastfeeding.
Some student midwives have even been taught how to help biological men give birth, even though it's scientifically impossible.
The original version of the ovarian NHS cancer page featured the line: 'Ovarian cancer, or cancer of the ovaries, is one of the most common types of cancer in women.'
It also highlights the women who may be particularly at risk, saying: 'Ovarian cancer mainly affects women who have been through the menopause (usually over the age of 50), but it can sometimes affect younger women.'
However, in an update sneaked out in January — which campaigners only uncovered this week — both lines were removed.
Instead, another line was added: 'Anyone with ovaries can get ovarian cancer, but it mostly affects those over 50.'
Experts also warned the change could actually be dangerous for women by over-complicating health messaging.
But the NHS has defended the update, stating it seeks to make the pages 'as helpful as possible to everyone who needs them'.
The old version of the NHS ovarian cancer page as of December 30 2021 (left) mentions women specifically twice, whereas the new version (right) omits them
A similar change has happened with womb cancer, with both 'women' and 'female' mentioned in the older version from August 2021 (left) but omitted in the right
Lastly, the NHS page on cervix cancer has also been changed with the old version from August 2021 mentioning 'woman' and 'women' but these terms have been removed in the new webpage
There about 7,500 new ovarian cancer cases in the UK each year, with around 4,200 deaths.
Similar changes have also been made to the NHS's womb cancer page, which used to open with: 'Cancer of the womb (uterine or endometrial cancer) is a common cancer that affects the female reproductive system.'