PAWAS. AORTIC 15
AORTIC is not only an academic meeting but
is also a chance to network. One of the
new networking groups that has been launched at AORTIC is PAWAS: Pan African Women’s
Surgeons group. The project has been
spearheaded by Dr Miriam Mutebi(Kenya) and Dr
Liz Travis (USA).
The aim of PAWAS is mentor women surgeons,
to provide a collaborative framework for research and to promote women’s health
in Africa. The inaugural meeting was
held at the Association Amal in Marrakech.
The association Amal is a women’s centre who empower vulnerable women and give them
training in the hospitality industry. We
had a delicious 3 course meal and between courses were given topics to discuss:
how to be a mentee and how to promote scientific research.
The evening event was followed by a round
table discussion attended by representatives of many American and European
organizations as well as medical personnel from Africa. Dr Rayne started the
discussion. She was asked to prioritize
the needs for promotion of health care amongst African women:
Ensure
appropriate resources
Ensure
electricity in health care centres
Set
pathological guidelines and standardize reporting
Utilise
Redcap system for collaborative research
She urged PAWAS not to concentrate
exclusively on women’s health issues.
The rest of the meeting was spent
discussing why women with breast cancer in Africa are diagnosed so late and
what can be done about it. The following
points were made:
The need to understand cultural issues:
Many women are
fatalistic. By addressing the lump in
the breast, their natural fate may be changed so they may be reluctant to
undergo invasive treatment while they feel well. (The counter argument is that HIV patients
agree to treatment before they are symptomatic)
The belief that
breast disease is caused by social factors resulting in consultations with
traditional healers.
Women should be
asked why they have presented late so issues may be identified.
However, Africa is a huge continent made up of many cultural groups. We should not assume that what is true in one area is true in another.
Integration of health services
Combine breast
and cervical screening with HIV testing.
Models that have been shown to work elsewhere should be employed
initially. Any interventions should be
assessed.
Advocacy
Important to
combine PAWAS projects with advocacy groups.
Should educate scholars: teenagers could become cancer ambassadors
Health Personnel
Doctors and
nurses need to be educated.
There need to have
access to journals
Doctors need
help with writing manuscripts and doing research
Thank you to Dr Mutebi and her team for
setting up this initiative.
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