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The Breast Cancer Initiative in East Africa (BCIEA) launched a program called “One Breast Cancer Smartphone per Village”, which aims to distribute smartphones to help raise awareness of breast cancer in communities in Rwanda.
According to Philippa Kibugu-Decuir, founder of BCIEA, through this initiative, they will provide a smartphone to a village ambassador who is trained by BCIEA so that he can provide information on breast cancer.
Smartphones have installed an application that was established with all the details about breast cancer, how to self-examine breast cancer, and all the necessary information that someone would like to know about this type of cancer.
He said he has a goal of distributing at least 300 smartphones to help provide information on breast cancer in different communities.
The phones are equipped with an educational application that is in both English and Kinyarwanda and the volunteer ambassadors who will receive these phones are medical students who are trained to properly disseminate information about breast cancer, mainly during communal activities such as the Umuganda period. and Umugoroba w’Ababyeyi.
Kibugu-Decuir urged members of Parliament and other lawmakers to legislate policies that support cancer patients and survivors and their families, saying that cancer is a devastating and costly disease, but it affects all aspects of life.
He noted that although Rwanda has universal health insurance coverage, treatment and medicines are so expensive that the most vulnerable cannot afford them.
For example, he said that 10 percent of the cost of radiation Rwf1.8 million is Rwf108,000, which is beyond the reach of many.
“The government of Rwanda has made tremendous progress with the Butaro Cancer Center and the Rwanda Cancer Center (at the Rwanda Military Hospital) and several hospitals that patients no longer need to travel abroad for treatment, but there is still a lot to do, “he said.
Melisa Kabanyana Muvunyi, a student at the Rwamagana School of Leaders, noted that her role is to spread awareness about breast cancer, so she and other young people will form clubs that will spread the message about breast cancer beyond their own school. .
According to Dr. Polyphile Ntihinyurwa, a gynecologist at Kigali and Huye University Teaching Hospitals, for the most part, early signs of breast cancer are not easily noticed due to lack of pain, so regular self-examination is recommended.
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He explained that the hands are enough to detect some signs, such as lumps, irregularities in the chest or something unusual, and in some cases, bloody discharge from the nipple or discoloration of the breast may be noticed.
In advanced cases of breast cancer, the wounds can even protrude from the skin of the breast, Ntihinyurwa said.
Many people seek medical attention when they are in pain or sick, which is very risky as they can lose their breasts because the cancer cells may have grown and spread deeper.
Ntihinyurwa pointed out that knowing whether or not one is sick is the first step to take. A person can live a happier life knowing that they do not have the disease instead of living a life of doubting whether they are sick or not.
However, she urged men to provide support when they notice that their women have breast cancer.
He also emphasized that cancer can cure although not all types of cancer, but early detection is the best treatment.
