Nurses are usually at the forefront of most battles against ill-health among residents. However, roles were reversed on Monday 28 February as female nurses at the Khayelitsha District Hospital (KDH) got all the attention.
In partnership with the Breast Course for Nurses (BCN), a non profit organisation (NPO) that equips health care providers with the knowledge and skills required to manage patients with breast problems, KDH held a special event to educate female nurses at the hospital about breast health.
The event was sponsored by AstraZeneca, a global multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company.
Dr Jenny Edge, BCN director, described the event as a pilot project. She said they plan to roll it out in other provinces. “We are offering all the women who are working here in KDH a chance to have an education about breast health. And it is an educational project for the Khayelitsha practitioners,” said Edge.
She stated that due to the Covid-19 pandemic they are unable to run their traditional courses. “We are involved with several projects that will see much of our material put online,” she said.
Edge warned that once a person felt or noticed any change in their breast to consult a health care practitioner. “The most vulnerable people to breast cancer are women older than 40 years and those who have a family history of breast cancer,” she said.
KDH Head of Department of Surgery Dr Austin Goliath described the event as a great initiative, not only for the hospital workers, but for the community as a whole. He said the hospital will be able to examine people if they have breast cancer.
“Once the patient is diagnosed with breast cancer the hospital will refer them to Tygerberg Hospital for further tests. It will depend on how sick the patient is. If the patient is in advanced stages she will be treated in Tygerberg. But if the patient is still in the early stages, Tygerberg can send her back to us to be treated here,” he explained.
AstraZeneca market Access Director Ruth Field labelled cancer as one of the health priorities for South Africa. “Our focus is on cancer because it is where the priority is in the country. We look at prostate and breast cancers. But now we will also look at lung and cervical cancers,” she said.
Field stated that through their social responsibility initiative, Phakamisa, they also work with the civil societies to ensure that they keep the government accountable.