Why does raising awareness matters?

Each year, more than 610,000 people worldwide are diagnosed with bladder cancer, yet awareness of the disease remains critically low. Too many people still do not recognise the symptoms and signs such as blood in the urine are often ignored, misunderstood, or mistaken for other conditions, delaying diagnosis and treatment.

This May marks the final year of our three-year global awareness campaign, “Feeling Unsure? Get Checked.”  Throughout the campaign, we have focused on one important message: feeling unsure about symptoms should never stop someone from seeking medical advice.

Bladder Cancer Awareness Month 2026 is an important moment to continue breaking the silence around bladder cancer, encourage earlier action, and help more people recognise the signs and symptoms of the disease. Earlier detection can make a significant difference in treatment options and outcomes.

Feeling Unsure? Get Checked.

This May, the “Feeling Unsure? Get Checked.” campaign urges people not to ignore symptoms or wait for them to worsen.

Too often, signs of bladder cancer are dismissed or explained away, delaying diagnosis and treatment. Feeling unsure is common, but getting checked early could save lives.

This year’s campaign materials are available in 31 languages, making this our most globally accessible awareness campaign to date. By providing resources in so many languages, we aim to help organisations, healthcare professionals, advocates, and communities around the world take part in awareness activities, start important conversations about symptoms, and reach more people with potentially life-saving information.

How can you make a difference this May?

This May, you can help more people recognise the signs and symptoms of bladder cancer, encourage earlier conversations around seeking medical advice, and support those affected by the disease. Whether you are an individual, healthcare professional, patient advocate, organisation, or company, every action can help raise awareness and reach more people with important information. You can get involved by:

Share our campaign materials across social media and community platforms using ready-to-use visuals, videos, posters, awareness cards, and messaging to help spread awareness of bladder cancer symptoms and the importance of early action. Resources can be shared on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, X, newsletters, websites, and within local communities to help reach as many people as possible.

Start conversations about bladder cancer symptoms with friends, family, colleagues, patients, and local communities to help break the silence around the disease and encourage people to take symptoms seriously. By speaking openly about signs such as blood in the urine, you may help someone recognise that something is not normal and encourage them to seek medical advice earlier.

Play Spot the Drop, our fun and interactive reaction-speed game designed to raise awareness of bladder cancer symptoms in an engaging way. Test your reflexes, challenge your friends and colleagues and help spread an important message worldwide: blood in the urine should never be ignored.

Take part in our #GetChecked Challenge and help raise awareness on social media by sharing campaign messages, resources, videos, photos, or personal stories throughout May. By joining the global conversation and using our campaign hashtags, you can help reach more people with the message that bladder cancer symptoms should never be ignored.

If you have questions, would like support adapting or translating campaign materials into your local language, or want to share awareness ideas, activities, or what you have been doing this month to raise awareness in your community, we would love to hear from you.

We also encourage you to share your activities online and join the global conversation using #BladderCancerMonth26 #GetChecked #UnsureStories #SpotTheDrop.