CANCER INFORMATION SERVICE
Introduction:
African Cancer Organisation (ACO) seeks to establish a Cancer Information Service (CIS) Centers to offer information about cancer prevention to businesses and the general public. The whole idea is to promote awareness of cancer and early detection through culturally sensitive and linguistically appropriate cancer information and education programs. The project will navigate people to appropriate facilities for screening, further diagnosis, management and support. This we believe will help prevent people from getting exposed to avoidable cancer risk factors and also help downstage cancers by early-detecting the disease at stages where cure is often possible, which will ultimately help avert the currently prevailing high incidence of cancers in Africa.
Background:
One in 5 men and one in 6 women worldwide develop cancer during their lifetime, and one in 8 men and one in 11 women die from the disease. Worldwide, the total number of people who are alive within 5 years of a cancer diagnosis is estimated to be 43.8 million. More than half of the global cancer burden fall on these emerging economies and it is projected to increase further. The most rapid rise is observed in developing economies, where cancer risk historically has been considerably lower.
Objective:
The goal of the project is to ensure that everyone living in Africa who is eligible has access easy to free cancer prevention information service. The project will establish the needed infrastructure and also build capacity of personnel required to provide cancer information service to businesses and the general public.
Methodology:
Trained cancer information specialists will provide a one-on-one interaction by telephone, e-mail, instant messaging, social media, in-person visit or on-site business visit. The service will be free to the general public. The project involves setting up an office, distribution of information, education and communication (IEC) materials to educate people about cancer, its prevention, causes and risk factors, sign and symptoms of cancer, cancer diagnosis, cancer treatment, management and support systems available. ACO CIS, tailored to the socio-economic and cultural context, is to ensure that cancer information is available to everyone who is eligible.
Conclusion:
There is solid evidence that making cancer information available and diagnosing it at an early stage will reduce deaths from cancer, and the success of interventions intended to detect cancer at an early stage greatly depends on cancer education and awareness and sensitivity to the needs, beliefs and unique circumstance of the target population. Although much remains to be learned about cancer, enough is now known about the causes of cancer and means of control for suitable intervention to have a significant impact. Most Africans cannot currently access curative therapies, state-of-the-art surgery or expensive cancer drugs that are the mainstay of cancer care in developed nations. At the same time up to 50% of cancers are preventable, and a third of all cancers could be cured if detected early. Therefore, scaling up prevention and early diagnosis will be the most cost-effective ways of dealing with cancer. ACO is by this looking for partners with similar mandate to collaborate to establish and sustain the CIS.