By Amjata Bayoh
Five years after the West African Ebola outbreak killed almost 4,000 people in Sierra Leone, out of over 10,000 people infected, the people are being encouraged to join the battle against another killer disease - an everyday killer - cancer.
Studies show that cancer is the leading cause of death globally, accounting for an estimated 9.6 million deaths in 2018.
According to the World Health Organization, breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in women and about 1 in 4 of all new cases diagnosed in women worldwide are breast cancer.
Cancer of the lung and female breast cancer top the global chart in terms of new cases. For each of these types, approximately 2.1 million cases were estimated in the year 2018, contributing 11.6% of the total cancer incidence burden.
According to figures from the GlobalRT, an initiative of the Union for International Cancer, 70% of deaths from cancer occurs in low and middle-income countries, which Sierra Leone is a part of.
According to the Global Cancer Observatory, 1,035 new cases were diagnosed in the country in 2018, with 577 deaths, making it the biggest cancer killer in the country. It is not known how many cases go undiagnosed.
Amidst these alarming statistics, Sierra Leone's healthcare system is still struggling to recover from the 2014 -2016 Ebola epidemic.
Sierra Leone is considered as one of the poorest countries in the world, with an estimated 81% of its population living in poverty. Women, who constitute 52% of Sierra Leone’s population, as per the 2015 Population and Housing Census, bear the brunt of the effect of poverty in the country. Consequently, a substantial number of them cannot afford the treatment when diagnosed with breast cancer.
A mammogram test to diagnose breast cancer costs between Le500,000 and Le700,000 ($50-$70). How many people can afford this in a country where most people earn below $1 a day?
The major question for the government, which has lingered in the minds of many citizens, is what it is doing to cater for breast cancer patients.
No funds are directed to non-communicable diseases like cancer by the government, and there are no specialized cancer centers in the country, which can boast of only one trained Oncologist.
Breast cancer patients in Sierra Leone are therefore left with little or no hope of getting cured, which makes people view the ailment as a death sentence.
The lost hopes and feelings of neglect carried by patients when they are diagnosed with breast cancer are what the Thinking Pink Breast Cancer Foundation is out to eliminate. And the planed marathon slated for this weekend, Saturday October 26, is one of several efforts the NGO has been using to alleviate the suffering of fellow human beings.
Thinking Pink is one of a very few NGOs in the country working to support breast cancer patients, and it plays its part through awareness-raising, public education on early detection, patient-counselling and fundraising to support the treatment of patients.
Lucy Karim, a trained nurse who works for the Foundation, is mostly active on the frontline seeing patients. She recounted that it is not easy for some of the patients as most of them cannot fund their treatment. But she said with support from the foundation, a lot of these people can be spared from the trouble of going through pains and thinking of raising funds.
“We counsel them and help them raise funds to support their treatment,” said Karim.
“Our dream is to one day construct a cancer centre in the country, where we diagnose and treat patients,” she added.
October every year is considered as International Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and the day is celebrated globally. The Thinking Pink Breast Cancer Foundation is currently conducting outreach in communities and schools, as part of the commemoration of the mont, with the goal of raising awareness on breast cancer. And the key message is: “Early detection saves lives”.
The Foundation is also providing free breast examination and teaching women how to perform the self-breast check.
This dream of constructing a cancer center is at the heart of the Foundations existence. And it has been raising funds for it and other activities via its annual marathon, which is hosted in October. This year’s event will be the 6th edition.
To register for the race, members of the public are encouraged to pay just Le80, 000 ($8) for locals, Le45, 000 ($4.5) for students, and $100 for international participants.
The race categories are 21 kilometer, 15kilometer, 5kilometer, and 2 kilometer for kids. T-shirts will be provided to all who register for the race and breakfast will also be provided to runners on the day of the event.
Amjata Bayoh is a trained community health advocate and citizen reporter base in Freetown. He has special interest for Health, Education, Young people’s empowerment and Sports. Bayoh currently works as a volunteer in the media department at the Thinking Pink Breast Cancer Foundation.
© 2019 Politico Online
