Awareness and Screening Campaign

Description of the project

In October 2014, doctors from AFRON, together with the staff of UWOCASO and UCI will be in Uganda, in the district of Rakai, for a three-day mission aiming to raise awareness and promote the prevention of female cancers (breast and cervical) and male (prostate).

During the first two days free medical and educational sessions will be arranged. On the third day there will be a football tournament organized in order to involve the entire community, in particular the male population.

Rakai is one of the regions most at risk in the country. Due to the high incidence of HIV (12% higher than the national average), 51.4% of the population is below the age of 15; most of the children are orphans, living in extreme poverty conditions and having abandoned their studies before finishing primary school. The girls face early marriage and motherhood at a very young age. Under these conditions, women are susceptible to a greater risk of cancer, particularly of the cervix.

Moreover, the presence in the territory of institutions for HIV research give UCI and UWOCASO the chance to establish partnerships and to undertake research on the correlation between cervical cancer and HIV. Also, all the health workers from the Health Centre of the District will be included in the campaign. They will receive specific training on basic practices in oncology from AFRON and UCI medical staff.

Objectives

Raise awareness about the disease so that people come to the hospital or see a doctor at the very first symptoms

Raise awareness among women and men in the Rakai District about the importance of prevention in relation to cancer of the cervix, breast, and prostate

Fighting the stigma of cancer and dispel the following beliefs:

• Cancer is not a dam nor an infectious disease

• Cancer has no symptoms, so is not easily diagnosed

• There are no cures for cancer

• If I get sick I do not have the right to treatment

Promote early detection in women by offering them free pap smear tests and visits to the breast clinic and offer men the urology test. Women are also taught about methods such as the breast self-examination so that they can continue self-monitoring and teach it to other women.

Beneficiaries

Direct: women of reproductive age in the district of Rakai involved in gynecological and breast screening (an estimated 900 women) and men aged over 45 years involved in the screening of urology (an estimated 50 men).

Indirect: part of the local community in the district of Rakai will be taught about cancer by existing operators (medical and otherwise). The latest data surveyed in 2012 reported 484,400 inhabitants in the district of Rakai.

Other significant institutions:

• Uganda Cancer Institute (UCI): www.uci.or.ug

• Uganda Women''''s Cancer Support Organization (UWOCASO):www.uwocaso.org.ug