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As part of ‘CANSA Care Week’ during August, the Cancer Association of South Africa (CANSA)’s Mobile Health Clinics are going the distance in providing cancer education and information to help reduce the cancer risk as well as cancer screening and early detection programmes.
Mobile Health Clinics will be operating from the towns of Polokwane, Witbank, Durban, Pietermaritzburg, Bloemfontein, Gauteng West, Eldorado Park, Pretoria, Upington, West Coast, George and Rustenburg during the first two weeks of August.
“We encourage the community to make use of this opportunity, and visit one of our Mobile Health Clinics, or visit one of the many CANSA Care Centres across the country – get yourself screened, get educated and be informed,” encourages CANSA’s Acting CEO, Elize Joubert (contact your local CANSA Care Centre for details).
Nqobile Nkabinde (32) Care Worker from the Soshanguve Community Clinic took part in a recent CANSA wellness and screening day at the clinic and said, “As a field worker, I get exposed to different things on a daily basis and I always grab the opportunity of being screened every time CANSA does wellness and screening at the clinics. I am deeply touched by women I meet during my daily home visits, since most of them discovered at a late stage that they have cancer that could have been detected much sooner if they had gone for screening. As part of my home visits, I educate the women about the importance of early detection of cancer”.
The Mobile Health Clinics travel to mostly remote areas throughout South Africa to reach people who would otherwise not have access to screening, helping to bridge a gap by offering the following:
- Clinical Breast Examinations and how to do self-breast examinations
- How to do testicular self-examinations to reduce the risk of testicular cancer
- Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) - a finger-prick blood test to help detect prostate abnormalities
- Pap smears - screening test for early diagnosis of cervical cancer
- Lifestyle risk assessments to assess your cancer risk
- Blood pressure and glucose testing
- Height and weight measurement for Body Mass Index to advise on maintaining a healthy weight
- Information on the cancer warning signs for adults and children
Joubert adds, “We know that early detection is important to help with more effective treatment and have a better chance of recovering from cancer. Ignorance and late diagnosis of cancer can lead to a poor response to treatment and a poor diagnosis. And it’s also important to know what screening options are available to you, especially if you have a family history of cancer.” Read more about early detection and screening.
Visit the CANSA website to see where our Mobile Clinics will be or phone us toll-free on 0800 22 66 22. Also keep an eye on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
