Summary Report of a Successful Policy/Advocacy Campaign by Breast Care International in Ghana

Abstract

Background and context: Breast cancer is rapidly becoming a growing public health problem in sub-Saharan Africa and has the highest mortality among women. Research has demonstrated that African women are diagnosed with breast cancer 10 to 15 years earlier than their counterparts in higher-income countries. According to GLOBOCAN, in 2012 it was estimated that 2260 women are diagnosed with breast cancer and out of it 1102 died in Ghana. Breast cancer accounts for 15% of all malignancies in Ghana and it is estimated that majority of the cases are premenopausal and still in the work forces. Evidence has also shown that women who develop breast cancer at younger ages had more aggressive tumors, higher rate of metastasis, higher clinical stages and lower rate of hormone receptor expression (estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor) than older women. Aim: Provide education and screening on breast/cervical/prostate cancers and noncommunicable diseases (NCDs; hypertension and diabetes). Strategy/Tactics: Reach out to organized groups and offer them education and screening programs. Program/Policy process: We offered our policy/advocacy campaign by going outside the hospital to do public health education in the schools, offices, churches and communities especially in the rural areas where people don't have access to hospitals, on breast cancer education, early detection and screening. For the benefit of the people in the rural areas, this platform is also used to educate the people on NCDs such as hypertension, diabetes which is also killing a lot people due to lack of education. Outcomes: From the advocacy campaign on the breast cancer outside the hospitals we release that there has been much improvement in reporting breast cases to the hospitals early and a large number of people in the communities understand breast cancer and its implications. What was learned: If health workers and nongovernmental organizations involve themselves in breast cancer education and advocacy campaigns, it will help in eradicating and reducing the number of breast cancer cases in the country.

Interventions to improve early detection of childhood cancer in low‐ and middle‐income countries: A systematic review

“…Though the relevant signs and symptoms differ, successful interventions targeting adults with cancer in LMICs can potentially be tailored to LMIC pediatric populations. Use of social media (Facebook, Twitter), 29,30 awareness through social events, 31 policy advocacy campaigns reaching out to organized groups within the community, 32 national social marketing compaigns, 33 and an increase in incidence of early stage disease (3.3/100 000 vs 0.7/100 000 person-years; P = .048) in intervention areas. 35 Other studies have also demonstrated the efficacy of training community health workers in the early detection and referral of breast and cervical cancer.…”

“…Though the relevant signs and symptoms differ, successful interventions targeting adults with cancer in LMICs can potentially be tailored to LMIC pediatric populations. Use of social media (Facebook, Twitter), 29,30 awareness through social events, 31 policy advocacy campaigns reaching out to organized groups within the community, 32 national social marketing compaigns, 33 and the use of technology such as tablet‐based interactive education 34 have all been shown to be both feasible and effective in LMIC settings in increasing uptake of breast, colon, and prostate cancer screening. Using a cluster randomized controlled trial design, Pace et al reported on the efficacy of a training program for health workers in Rwanda targeting the early diagnosis of breast cancer.…”