A Village People-themed ‘Cough Choir’ provided a unique vocal introduction to a new lung cancer screening campaign in Corby on Friday (28 October).

The choir performed the Village People classic hit “YMCA” and added some coughing in time to the music – although probably not in key. To underline their point, the choristers displayed banners with the campaign message - ‘Got a persistent cough – go get a chest x-ray!’

You can see the cough choir advert here.

The campaign is aimed in particular at people aged 50 and over who are registered with a Corby GP. The campaign offers people the chance to just turn up for a free chest x-ray at the Nuffield Diagnostic Centre on the Willowbrook Health Complex, Cottingham Road, Corby.

Dr Raja Reddy, Consultant at Kettering General Hospital, said: “The main message we want to get across is, if you have a persistent cough for over three weeks, ask your GP about a chest x-ray or self refer. Early diagnosis leads to better outcomes.

“We know that there is a higher prevalence of lung cancer in Corby than in other parts of the county. The three month pilot in Corby aims to increase awareness of the signs and symptoms of lung cancer and ideally catch people with lung cancer earlier on.

“One of the reasons for poor survival rates from lung cancer is many patients present to treatment with late stage lung cancer. Patients with advanced stage disease at time of diagnoses have been shown to have poorer survival rates.

“If lung cancer is detected at an early stage, there is a higher chance of long-term survival with surgery or radical radiotherapy.”