The We Can Face It campaign has been launched in support of women with unwanted facial hair (UFH) by television personalities, Dr Dawn Harper (Channel 4’s Embarrassing Bodies), Mica Paris (soul singer) and Jason Gardiner (style guru from ITV’s This Morning).

The We Can Face It survey which involved 1,000 Women in the UK has revealed that 98% of women with unwanted facial hair (UFH) regularly have negative or critical thoughts about their appearance due to facial hair and a third experience anxiety if they can not remove the hair immediately.   

The campaign is sponsored by Almirall Ltd, an awareness campaign that aims to communicate the full health impact of excess, unwanted facial hair; create a supportive community of like-minded women with the condition and to encourage women to feel confident when speaking with their doctor about management and treatment options for their condition. 

Gloucestershire-based GP Dr Dawn Harper, well known for addressing taboo health topics on Embarrassing Bodies and one of the expert panel leading the campaign said, “Unwanted facial hair is a condition that is much more common in the UK than the general public might believe.  It affects around 40% of women and can have a detrimental effect on women’s physical and mental health, body image and self esteem.  I am very pleased to be supporting this campaign, which will hopefully show women that they are not alone and that a range of treatment and support options are available to them through their GP.”  

The survey findings have highlighted that: 89% of women admitted that they would feel more confident if they didn’t have facial hair One third said that their unwanted facial hair has regularly stopped them from going out socially.42% of women said that facial hair had prevented them from going on dates (57% in the 18 to 35 age group) Over 40% said that their unwanted facial hair has stopped them from forming relationships (a figure that rose to over half (54%) in the 18 to 35 age group).   

Mica Paris commented, “The We Can Face It campaign is really helping to bring UFH out of the shadows and onto the public radar.  It is shocking that so many women are not fully enjoying their social life or forming relationships because they are so concerned about their facial hair. I hope this campaign will help women to start talking about the condition with close family or friends so that they don’t have to suffer in silence.” 

More than two thirds of those surveyed admitted using the internet as their primary source of information, but the majority are not seeking professional help from their GP, stating reasons such as not wanting to waste the GP’s time, feeling embarrassed or being concerned they won’t be taken seriously.  

Additional information on coping with UFH and finding support can be found on the campaign website at www.wecanfaceit.com along with the full survey report and results.  

The British Heart Foundation (BHF) has launched a new, free recipe book serving up over sixty delicious and easy-to-prepare South Asian dishes for the new year.   

The recipe book, Health Meals – Healthy Hearts, was authored by Seroj Shah, a consultant nutritionist and registered dietitian, and Azmina Govindji, registered dietitian & ITV’s "This Morning" nutritionist. It gives tips on healthy cooking and eating, such as making a raita with low fat natural yoghurt and diced cucumber, and that one small mango will give you one portion of your five-a-day fruit and vegetable quota. 

The book has been supported by Elephant Chakki Gold Atta, a blend of premium white and stone-ground wholemeal Atta, who are promoting the recipe book on special packs of Atta. 

‘Empowering Black, Asian and minority ethnic women to take control of their Health!’

NHS Leicester City have sponsored The Colour of Health magazine to launch in Leicester. The Colour of Health will now be available across the East Midlands

Contact The Colour of Health on 0114 2676256 with your health stories, information, advertising and promotions.

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Sponsored by NHS Leicester City

Following World War Two, British hospitals were desperately short of staff. The government recruited throughout the Caribbean. The response was enormous. Between 1948-1969 thousands of Caribbean women and men came to work in the health service.

In a bid to share a recipe for success - 19 PCT’s have signed a Race for Health Pledge to actively ‘do something’ to achieve race equality in the NHS!

They have put together a combination of cultural dishes, faith foods and recipes and linked this to a series of ingredients of their own practice, to address issues of inequality in the NHS – An inspirational ‘must have’ calendar!

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