USAID Flagship Program for Breast-Care in Plaestine 'Early Discovery: The Road to Recovery'.

摘要

Palestine has presently no comprehensive program to address prevention, early detection and treatment of breast cancer. At Augusta Victoria Hospital (AVH), 30% of all cancer referrals are for breast cancer and 60% of these are at a palliative stage. This project will pilot and implement an educational program for Palestinian women, explaining the importance of prevention, early detection and the methodology of breast cancer screening. The program is commencing its activities in the northern part of the West Bank of Palestine (Nablus). Initial activities have been held at the Askar (UNRWA) clinic. The number of women attending initial February educational sessions was far higher than expected. Interest in the mobile mammography clinic program is intense. The number of planned visits scheduled has been increased to three per week to prevent the formation of a waiting list for screening and to avoid the potential of disappointment or lack of follow-through for clients. The number of women who attended four trial educational sessions was 23 . 25 per session (90 total), the number who underwent ultrasound scans was 10 - 14 per session (58 total) and the number of mammograms carried out was 8 per session (27 total). The Mobile Mammography Team associated with this program thus far included: Siham Awwad, Project Technical Manager: Dr. Souha Hassan, field doctor; Dima Husseini, field technician; and the driver Muhammad Abu Safa.