Breast cancer knowledge and awareness among university students in Angola

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Breast cancer knowledge and awareness among university students in Angola
 

– Reported, 19 January 2013

 

The high breast cancer mortality rate in Sub-Saharan Africa has been attributed to a lack of public awareness of the disease which often leads to late diagnosis of the disease. Little is known about the level of knowledge and awareness of breast cancer in Angola. Previous studies have shown that breast cancer awareness is higher among well-educated people. The goal of this study was to assess breast cancer knowledge and awareness among university students in Angola. Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in women worldwide. There has been a significant increase in the incidence of breast carcinoma in sub-Saharan African countries and in other low-resource countries.

Mortality rates for African women are relatively higher when compared to women in Western countries. Unless medical care and screening practices are dramatically improved in Africa, breast cancer mortality rates can be expected to remain disproportionately high. Apart from African women being predisposed to the more aggressive form of breast cancer, the disproportionately greater mortality rate compared to high-resource countries can be attributed to a lack of public awareness of the disease, absence of organized screening programs, delayed presentation and lack of accessible and effective treatment options . As a result of late detection, most patients are diagnosed well after the breast cancer is at an advanced stage and has metastasized to other organs.

The results showed a general lack of knowledge of breast cancer among university students in Angola irrespective of whether they were in medical programs (prior to clinical years) or non-medical programs. These findings further highlight the need for developing and implementing effective breast cancer education and prevention programs among university and the general public in Angola. The results may provide useful data that may be used by health institutions in Angola and other African countries to formulate health education programs focusing on breast cancer that targets university students.

The apparent lack of breast cancer awareness and knowledge among university students in this study is further evidence for widespread ignorance among the general public. University students tend to be better informed on health issues than the average public person. It is, therefore, crucial that health care providers and educators employ culturally appropriate strategies to increase breast cancer awareness. There is a lot of potential to exploit these online social media as a means of disseminating information on breast cancer.

CREDITS: Martha Nyanungo Sambanje & and Benford Mafuvadze
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/