My name is Gordon Dow, and I am Chief Executive Officer of the Throat Cancer Foundation. I did not come into this role from a medical or charity background. My career began in accountancy and management, cutting my teeth with roles in blue-chip organisations including NCR, StorageTek, Standard Life and the NHS. Much of that
On 16 April, World Voice Day will celebrate something most people rarely think about until it changes or disappears: the human voice. For the Throat Cancer Foundation, this is not just a day about sound, speech, or self-expression in the abstract. It is a day that cuts much deeper. Because for many people affected by
Most people don’t know HPV can cause throat and tonsil cancer. So they don’t start by asking, “Was it HPV?”They start with the usual assumptions:“You never smoked… so what caused it?”“How did you get it?”“Why you?”And eventually, when someone finally says, “It was caused by HPV”, the mood shifts.There’s a pause. A look. Then the
There is a pattern in parts of the media whenever HPV and throat cancer are discussed. A real illness. A real person. A real diagnosis. And then, wrapped around it, a headline designed to provoke embarrassment, blame or shock. That is not good health journalism. It is distortion. At the Throat Cancer Foundation, we see
I turn 60 in a few weeks, and I’ll be honest: sometimes it feels like I’m sitting on a time bomb. Not because I have a cancer. Not because I’m expecting bad news. But because I grew up in a generation that was taught nothing about HPV — not what it is, not how common
A persistent sore throat isn’t always serious. But when it is, waiting can cost you. Key fact (UK): late diagnosis is commonAcross the UK, around 59% of throat cancers are diagnosed at stage III or IV — advanced disease that usually means tougher treatment and a harder road back. What to do: if symptoms persist
Throat cancer doesn’t just take health. For many people, it takes the everyday things most of us never think about until they’re threatened. It can change and even take your voice — the way you speak to the people you love, the way you work, laugh, sing, argue, apologise, comfort, and connect. It can make
The question that quietly blames people living with throat and tonsil cancers. It’s not an official slogan. It’s an angry reaction — the one many people have after throat and tonsil cancer, because the question they hear most often isn’t “How are you coping?” It’s this: “I take it you’ve given up smoking?” It’s usually
We’ve spent the last week talking honestly about life after treatment, the “new normal”, and the reality that throat cancer doesn’t politely pack up and disappear when the hospital appointments slow down. But the comments we’ve received since those articles landed have made something even clearer: throat cancer rarely belongs to just one person. It
A throat cancer diagnosis can flip your life upside down — physically, emotionally, and financially. One question we hear a lot is: “Is throat cancer considered a disability in the UK?” For discrimination law, the answer is yes. The key point (England, Scotland and Wales) Under the Equality Act 2010, cancer is automatically classed as
