Jonathan Van Tam recommends an American website – here are others
Britain may have set up the World Wide Web – but it has taken Americans to show us the best use of the web for the benefit of cancer survivors.
We all get information about UK websites, including NHS one; I have twice challenged the information posted on this, which was inaccurate, and I find its information is sparse.
Instead, I have found Official US health websites are informative, written in patient-friendly language, with videos giving a 2 – 3 minute overview of a problem. Recently, even our Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Jonathan Van-Tam, said on ITV News that the best info about covid-19 came from the US website fda.org (Food and Drug Administration)
Below are sites I visit regularly; run by the
- US Government
- American cancer hospitals
- Or/ American Cancer charities.
What’s on offer in UK?
Just to make sure I wasn’t being too unkind to NHS Choices – I went on their site. Least said …….
There is also the NCSI (National Cancer Survivors Initiative) website). I go to it, key in ‘Survivorship’, and up comes a full page. written in small lettering on this page is just
“The National Cancer Survivorship Initiative (NCSI) is a partnership between NHS England and Macmillan Cancer Support. The aim of the NCSI is to ensure that those living with and beyond cancer get the care and support they need to lead as healthy and active a life as possible, for as long as possible” – and that was all.
This makes me very angry. The site has been developed using our money, and if this is all they can come up with, I want my money back.
So I am sure you can see why I turn to American websites for information. Just Google site names below, to open up useful, patient-friendly information.
I haven’t included addresses because many have two or three websites (or more), each one dedicated to a particular area
List of US websites
- ASCO – American Society of Clinical Oncology (this is the US equivalent of NHS Choices)
- Cancer.net
- MD Anderson Cancer Center
- Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Hospital
- Mayo Clinic
- Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center
- FDA (Food and Drug Authority (particularly good for Covid-19 info)
- Fox Chase Cancer Center
- Johns Hopkins Hospital
- University of Washington Medical Center
- Massachusetts General Hospital
- UCSF Medical Center
- UCLA Medical Center
- Stanford Hospital and Clinics
- and two charities:
- Livestrong
- Susan G. Komen for the Cure
Try these links: http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/types/breast/beyond-cancer-video
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/types/breast/beyond-cancer-videos