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NIHSS students in breast cancer awareness initiative |25 April 2015

A group of second year nursing students has taken the initiative to raise public awareness on breast cancer which is affecting more and more women here.
Recently the group of five students put up a stand at the Oliaji Trade Centre where they carried out a whole day of activities dedicated at attracting public attention and raising awareness on the illness.

Through a slideshow presentation, leaflets and posters the students gave information on the disease.
They used dummies of breasts to show different stages of the cancer as well as how to do breast self-examination (BSE). The students were also able to give detailed explanations and answered the concerns and questions raised by members of the public who turned up at their stand.

The students said they came up with the initiative after taking into account the Ministry of Health’s ongoing ‘My Health, My Responsibility’ campaign.

Talking to Seychelles NATION, 17-year-old National Institute of Health and Social Studies (NIHSS) student Darius Jolicoeur said: “We were encouraged to choose a topic of major health concern in Seychelles so that we could educate the public on its prevention, symptoms and the possible side effects of its treatments.”  

He noted that in 2010 breast cancer was at 29% but shot up to 43% by 2012. He felt that there was a need for us to carry out this awareness project to further inform the public how to prevent against the disease and how to detect it as early detection can save lives.

Darius felt that the public’s response to the activities was quite impressive especially from women who were interested to learn how to conduct a proper self examination which should be done on a regular basis. He said even though breast cancer can be found in both sexes, it is most common in women whereas for men it could probably be 1 out of 20.

“It all begins with self-examination, and if you feel any lumps or see a discharge it is best to bring those to a doctor’s attention so that they can be examined to determine their nature,” he continued.

Darius pointed out that his role when he will become a nurse is to prevent a disease from starting or spreading and to be able to provide the proper care to his patients as well provide rehabilitation to those who have already been diagnosed or cured. In order to do so, he added, we need to continuously educate the public.

According to data collected by the Seychelles National Cancer Registry (SNCR) the most common form of cancer in women is breast cancer. In 2011-2012 there were 143 cancer cases in Seychelles where 43% was breast, 22% cervix uteri, 16% colorectal, 10% lymphoma and 9% is lung cancer.

 

 

 

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