Suitable for use under rural conditions, the vehicle will move from community to community and is equipped to provide essential health training, education and cancer screening services.
“Funding was provided by the National Lottery Distribution Fund for the unit to help provide free cancer control services to all under-serviced areas including EThekwini, uMgungundlovo, Ugu, Amajuba, Uthungulu, and Uthukela communities where prevention and early detection services for cancer are almost non-existent” said Sue Janse Van Rensburg, CANSA CEO.
The unit allows CANSA to educate South Africans on the importance of early cancer detection and treatment, which is vital to prevent unnecessary deaths from this disease.”
Aimed at reaching mostly women in impoverished communities with screening services such as Pap smears and breast examinations, the unit will also include prostate-specific antigens (PSA) tests for men to detect prostate cancer and skin examinations to detect skin cancer.
Sershan Naidoo, Media Manager: National Lottery Distribution Fund adds “The mobile unit is a very worthy project to help to reduce the impact of cancer on the lives of families through these screening services and cancer education. People living in under-serviced areas cannot access cancer screening services and this project allows equal access, early diagnosis and health information. Through our funding, this CANSA run project will help save lives and prevent hardship in families in these communities.”
The unit will make extensive use of retired nursing professionals with a driver and CANSA Health Programme Coordinators, who come out of a variety of work backgrounds: nursing, social work, community development and occupational therapy. They in turn work with people at grassroots level in the community. Using volunteers is a particularly effective strategy when working in resource-poor communities, especially women who are starting to play an active role in health care and actively seek ways of improving the quality of their health.
CANSA recruits and trains volunteers to work alongside staff to assist at screening events when the mobile unit visits a particular community; they also help with community mapping and administering pre-screening surveys. Volunteers play an important role in promoting the benefits of cervical screening and reducing individual anxieties concerning Pap-smears.
Van Rensburg concludes “CANSA will partner with local government, local ward counsellors, local clinics, women and men’s groups to ensure we have citizens making use of the mobile’s services. In addition, we’ll also use local media to inform the community. The mobile unit teams will submit monthly reports and statistics on communities visited, number of beneficiaries reached through screening and cancer control programmes as well as number of referrals for follow-up treatment.”
The Cancer Association of South Africa (CANSA) is South Africa’s premier cancer control organisation and well-placed to deliver this service based on more than 78 years of experience in providing cancer services at grassroots level. Its purpose is to lead the fight against cancer in South Africa to save lives. CANSA’s unique integrated services have been realigned according to our science-based research findings. Knowledge gained from our research, public service and watchdog role influences CANSA’s action and effectiveness, which we know will benefit the population. CANSA has more than 330 staff, 14 000 volunteers and 51 offices nation-wide.
For more information or for the Afrikaans version of this release, please contact Lucy Balona, Head Marketing and Communication, CANSA, email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or tel: 011 616 7662 or cell: 082 459 5230 or.
To get involved and join the fight to support CANSA, please visit www.cansa.org.za or contact CANSA toll-free on 0800 22 66 22.
Ends
Read more http://www.mediaweb.co.za/journalist/mnews_j_.asp?id=3743
