Re: https://www.hifa.org/dgroups-rss/cervical-cancer-9-q1-how-do-people-your...
Q1. How do people in your community or workplace generally perceive cervical cancer? Please describe the common concerns, beliefs, or attitudes you notice.
I previoulsy shared a paper from Ethiopia 'Communities’ perceptions towards cervical cancer and its screening in Wolaita zone, southern Ethiopia: A qualitative study'
There were a few comments from participants:
1. “How do we go to the health facility when the disease does not show any symptoms; we have to be sick to be seen by a health professional” (35 years old female, Boloso Sore)
2. “what is the point of screening? After all, cancer is a killer; better off not knowing cancer will kill you” (34 years old male, Sodo Zuria).
3. “If we go to prevention without any symptoms, what is the point? People might assume [those seeing us visiting the screening room] as we have cancer. The other issue is that if people know that we have cancer, we will be stigmatized, so better not to get known or get treatment” (42 years old female, Boloso Sore).
For me, these comments say a lot. They indicate the perspectives of patients are often very different to what we may assume.
I think particularly interesting is the attitude toward screening. Whereas the biomedical model proposes screening as a rational way to prevent serious disease, or to detect serious disease early so that it may be easily treated, some patients do not recognise this. Indeed some patients the need for a health visit if they are sick. Another misconception is that cancer necessarily is a death sentence.
How common are these misconceptions in your experience?
Are you aware of any approaches that can be used to explain the benefits of screening and thereby improve uptake? What is currently being used for this purpose: posters? patient education leaflets? social and mainstream media?
If people don't understand the benefits of screening, they will clearly not take advantage of it and many of them will die unnecessarily.
I look forward to read your comments. Please email to: hifa@hifaforums.org
Best wishes, Neil
HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Email: neil@hifa.org