Rundu nurses get training on cancer screening

Chief Executive Officer of the Cancer Association of Namibia, Rolf Hansen, on Tuesday welcomed 15 nursing staff and student nurses at the Nkarapamwe Clinic in Rundu as part of the training programme on cancer screening.

The educational development programme forms part of the National Cancer Outreach Programme that is funded by the annual Cancer Ball of Namibia – hosted in August 2017.

The Kavango outreaches impacted the lives of communities in the Mupini Village and Rundu main areas, while nurses from various village clinics in the region were invited to take part in the 2-day training and development programme primarily focussed on Pap smear, breast examination and prostate cancer screening.

“A multidisciplinary approach is needed to fight cancer in our country and therefore we need to equip our primary healthcare providers with the skills necessary to create awareness, educate and communicate on lifestyle changes that can support the war on cancer,” said Sister Christy Kavetuna of the Association.

The Kavango’s and Zambezi Region are most affected by especially cervical cancer, while lymphoma cancers and Kaposi sarcomas are very common due to high HIV prevalence rates.

The Cancer Association of Namibia aims to impact as many lives as possible through the outreach programs by hosting community clinics.

Screening programmes that are offered complimentary to 100 Namibians per outreach point include Pap smear, breast examination and rapid PSA-testing (prostate cancer) with family history clinical counselling on prostate cancer. Referrals are then made as needed to referral State hospitals.

Nursing staff are also trained and tested in accordance with CAN guidelines approved by the Health Professional Council to ensure quality screening by medical procedure.

The Cancer Association of Namibia will be in the !Karas Region during April. Keetmanshoop will be visited on 2 – 3 April; Aus will be visited on 6 April; while community clinics and training in Lüderitz will be hosted on 7-8 April. Oranjemund will be visited on 9 – 11 April. Karasburg and Aroab areas will be visited as part of a secondary outreach during October this year. Outreaches to the 4-O Regions in the North, Erongo and Kunene will follow during the 2nd half of 2017.