BREAST CANCER SLOWDOWN CAMPAIGN WITH SOFONIE DALA - ANGOLA. PART 1

 The aim of Wear It Pink Day is to raise awareness of breast cancer – and raise funds for the charity in the process. The aim of Breast Cancer Now is to make sure that everyone diagnosed with the illness lives by 2050.

The relationship between alcohol and breast cancer is clear: drinking alcoholic beverages, including wine, beer, or liquor, is a risk factor for breast cancer, as well as some other forms of cancer.

Drinking alcohol causes more than 100,000 cases of breast cancer worldwide every year. Globally, almost one in 10 cases of breast cancer is caused by women drinking alcoholic beverages. Drinking alcoholic beverages is among the most common modifiable risk factors.

Breast cancer is one of the leading causes of mortality in women globally. In Africa, breast cancer ranks as the most common cancer type in women. It is associated with several risk factors like lifestyle, genetic and environmental influences. 

For Breast Cancer Awareness Month, we want to recognise the elements of strong health systems that must work behind every patient to ensure women receive the treatment and care they need.

Breast cancer is a serious condition that impacts millions across Africa, and is the most common and most deadly type of cancer affecting the continent. 

The incidence and mortality rate of breast cancer in women varies across the Africa continent according to risk factor. Amongst the breast cancer subtypes, triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is the most common among African women. Factors such as late presentation, lack of infrastructure for screening and therapeutic intervention, and lack of awareness have contributed to lower survival rate to breast cancer in Africa. 

The highest mortality and incidence rate reported for breast cancer was in the West Africa region. Although, there seems to be an under-reporting of the actual breast cancer burden in Africa. This review highlights breast cancer incidence rate, mortality rate, survival rate, risk factors, and tumor biology across various regions in Africa. 

Breast Cancer in South Africa Region

The incidence and mortality rates of breast cancer in Southern Africa have been estimated to be 38.9 and 15.5 per 100000 women (Ferlay et al., 2013). According to Sharma (2020) analysis of the GLOBOCAN 2018 breast cancer report, ASIR and ASMR were 46.2 and 15.6 per 100000 women, respectively, which is higher than what was reported by Ferlay et al. (2013) and a MIR of 0.34. Advanced-stage cancer incidence was reported to be 50 and 55% in Southern Africa (Cubasch et al., 2013; Langenhoven et al., 2016). 

For breast cancer subtype, HER2 was reported to be overexpressed in 26% of South African patients (McCormack et al., 2013). Shulman et al. (2016) report from Botswana showed that breast cancer represents 18% of all cancer type and 12.5% of cancer related deaths.

Breast Cancer burden in Africa

In Africa, breast cancer is responsible for 28% of all cancers and 20% all cancer deaths in women. (16% & 11%  both sexes).

Incidence rates are still generally low in Africa, estimated below 35 per 100,000 women in most countries  (compared to over 90–120 per 100,000 in Europe or North America).

Precise incidence figures in Africa are lacking given the  absence of cancer registration in most countries.

Conclusion

Reports from various regions of the African continent showed that more investigations into breast cancer screening, awareness, treatment and subtypes are needed to foster the understanding of various risk factors associated with breast cancer with the aim of reducing the growing breast cancer burden in Africa. 

This is how we observed breast cancer day in past years

BREAST CANCER SLOWDOWN CAMPAIGN WITH SOFONIE DALA - ANGOLA. PART 1

  Breast Cancer Slowdown Campaign - Angola

Good evening ladies and gentlemen! 

We welcome everyone to the most coveted program by women in the world! 

"October is a very special month, because it is worldwide dedicated to the prevention and combat of breast cancer, a disease from which we can defend ourselves and fight early, in a very simple way, and which, if not identified early, kills about 2 million women around the world."

                         

The campaign, developed by Sofonie Dala in Angola, will offer hope to women "who are part of the risk group, and who otherwise would not have the means to resort to a specialized assessment. With this campaign we want girls and  women to "protect themselves and be ambassadors for the prevention of breast cancer with their families, friends and in their communities.

YOU DON`T HAVE TO FACE IT ALONE.

WE ARE STRONGER TOGETHER!

Greetings! 

My name is Sofonie Dala!

We are launching our campaign, Breast Cancer Slowdown. This campaign aims to honor women affected by breast cancer, raise awareness of prevention and early diagnosis, as well as support research in this area. With the motto "YOU DON´T HAVE TO FACE IT ALONE", this movement intends to "sensitize Angolan women to the importance of early diagnosis in breast cancer prevention".

Breast cancer is a type of cancer that starts in the breast. Cancer starts when cells begin to grow out of control. It can spread when cancer cells get into the blood or lymph system and are carried to other parts of the body.

What are the Symptoms of Breast Cancer?

- New lump in the breast or underarm (armpit).

- Thickening or swelling of part of the breast.

- Irritation or dimpling of breast skin.

- Redness or flaky skin in the nipple area or the breast.

- Pulling in of the nipple or pain in the nipple area.

Although breast cancer is often painless, it is important not to ignore any signs or symptoms that could be due to breast cancer. Some people may describe the pain as a burning sensation.

To do a breast self-examination:

- Remove all your clothes above the waist. Lie down. 

- Use the pads of your three middle fingers—not your fingertips. 

- Use the middle fingers of your left hand to check your right breast. 

- Use three different levels of pressure to feel all of your breast tissue.

Showcasing awareness interviews - Testimonial

Good afternoon!

How are you?

I'm fine thanks!

Please introduce yourself.

I am Josefa Pedro.

OK Josefa, thank you so much for being with us!

Could you tell us how breast cancer has affected your life and the life of your family?

It was a very difficult thing for us. My mother has always been a very dynamic woman, having to discover this disease at 41 years of age, as she was young, this was very difficult.

So I had to walk with her, follow the whole process, and it's something very exhausting, not only for the person who has the disease but for the people close to her as well.

How long did your mother carry this disease?

We had intensive treatment for a year. we did the consultations, then the medical operation was performed, and she spent 3 to 6 months undergoing chemotherapy.

When was breast cancer discovered in your mother?

This disease was discovered in 2019, between June - July. As soon as we discovered the cancer, we immediately went to the oncology center at the Maria Pia hospital, where we started the treatment.

How is her condition now?

She is currently doing well, she continues to undergo the treatment but on the basis of pills. Every 6 months she has a check up to ensure that no other abnormalities have developed in her body.

What is the appeal you would give to other girls facing this disease, and for those who are shy to ask for help?

First of all, women must self-examine themselves.

For those like me who already have a case of this in their family, from 25 years of age onwards, they should start having a mammogram, to find out if there is an indication. When the cancer is in the early stage it is still possible to treat, but unfortunately some women only discover it in the advanced stage when it is too late to do anything.

Was your mother's tumor removed?

Yes, thank God!

Preventing is the best way to fight breast cancer!

Breast Cancer Slowdown Campaign which takes place in Luanda and delivers not only education to raise awareness about the importance of screening but also information on early detection and self-examination. "We want to do a set of actions that would reach women who are real.

According to figures from the Angolan Institute for Cancer Control, about 300 new cases of breast cancer are diagnosed in Angola every year. "For lack of information, many women arrive at hospitals too late and most of the patients, in fertile age, end up dying with the disease, leaving the families destitute." 

Donate

There are a number of ways to support those affected by breast cancer. Whether helping the community as a whole or donating in honor of or in memory of a loved one, each donation helps sustain our mission to educate the community and fight to end breast cancer.

Your gift means we can bring hope to cancer patients. Together we are fighting cancer smarter, better and harder than we ever have before. Thank you for your support.

BREAST CANCER SLOWDOWN CAMPAIGN WITH SOFONIE DALA - ANGOLA. PART 2

 Breast Cancer Slowdown Campaign -Angola

YOU DON`T HAVE TO FACE IT ALONE.

WE ARE STRONGER TOGETHER!

Cheerful greetings! 

Welcome everyone to the second part of our Breast Cancer Slowdown Campaign. The movement intends to "sensitize Angolan women to the importance of early diagnosis in breast cancer prevention"!

The dark side of cancer. In-depth interview - very sentimental

Good evening!

Please introduce yourself!

My name is Lina Comboio. Sofonie, thank you for inviting me on your show to talk about breast cancer. I support this program.

I am happy to participate on the 22nd of October, which marks breast cancer worldwide.

Well, the world was marked on October 19, 2021, and Angola was not left out, so we are here to continue this movement!

Lina, can you tell me how breast cancer affected your family's life?

Yes, I am here to make my contribution.

Was there anyone with this disease in your family?

Yes, cancer entered my family in a very mysterious and very silent way. Cancer affected my mother's health. Cancer took my mother with it.

There are two types of cancer, benign and malignant. Unfortunately my mother had malignant tumor, which had no way of doing surgery other than undergoing chemotherapy procedures.

When was this disease discovered in your mother?

The disease was discovered 2 years ago, and she lived with this disease for 2 years.

How did the family react?

We react very badly. In the beginning we didn't know what it was or the cause of the disease. We couldn't tell if it was cancer, pneumonia or tuberculosis. There were moments of great anguish, we were all afflicted and depressed. It was a very sorry situation.

Was the first treatment she had appropriate for this disease?

It was not an appropriate treatment for cancer because the doctors thought it was tuberculosis. They prescribed lots of medication that only made her situation worse. She went to a sanatorium hospital where tuberculosis was wrongly diagnosed, the doctors gave her lots of pills for her to take but it made her very sick and it didn't improve her health at all.

So we decided to take her to the military hospital to see what's really going on with my mother. In this hospital it was discovered and diagnosed that she had Cancer. She was hospitalized there and after a while she was transferred to oncology hospital of Angola-Maria Pia.

How long did you fight the disease?

We fought for 2 years. Unfortunately she didn't resist.

She passed away? When?

Unfortunately she didn't make it and died this year, 2 months ago.

It is a very big loss.

Yes, it was a very strong loss. Which so far I haven't gotten over it and I don't know when I'll get over it, this is so sad, very sad indeed. Sometimes we lose something but mother's love is very strong, we can't get over it when we lose mother's love. I'm very sad, I don't like to remember this.

Alright Lina, we understand your loss and we are with you in this moment of pain!

Here in Angola and in the world we have many women who were also affected by breast cancer and some do not know that they carry this disease and end up dying without being helped. As someone who has had contact with this disease, you know that cancer exists and is real. What advice would you give to other women:

- Those who also have cancer and do not know about it

- Those who do not have it but should be prevented

- And those who are afraid, to break the silence and ask for help?

Well, I would like to advise women that it is very good to always do the Check-up to see how our health is going. We must always visit the doctor to consult our body.

By providing public health education to improve awareness among women of the signs and symptoms of breast cancer and, together with their families, understand the importance of early detection and treatment, more women would consult medical practitioners when breast cancer is first suspected, and before any cancer present is advanced. This is possible even in the absence of mammographic screening that is impractical in many countries at the present time.

Exclusive interview with nurse Gonçalves Maxinde

Watch the video on youtube for full translation. Click on the “Settings” icon, select “Subtitles/CC,” and then click “Auto Translate.”

Good morning, it's pink October, breast cancer month. We invited the nurse Gonsalves Maxinde to make some brief remarks about breast cancer as well as explain how this situation is in Angola.

Good morning, I welcome everyone to this online event. Today we are going to talk about breast cancer.

My name is Gonsalves Baltazar Maxinde, I am a general nurse. I have been working for 4 years in the emergency bank of the Malanjino Health Center.

We know that pink October is the month that stands out the most, and with the greatest coverage the world talks about this topic. This does not mean that in another months we should not talk about breast cancer with such force.

Breast cancer is a public health disease that affects women's breasts. Every woman of legal age should have a culture of self-examination, normally every morning with her hands raised, she should touch her breasts to see if she doesn't have a lump.... [Watch the video on YouTube for full translation. Click on the “Settings” icon, select “Subtitles/CC,” and then click “Auto Translate.”]

Campaign report

The Angolan Cancer Control Institute adopted a strategy to carry out screening for the disease in places of large population agglomeration, which allowed the diagnosis of 958 new cases, of which 232 of breast cancer, 26 of the prostate and 159 of the uterine cervix. In relation to breast cancer, there was a decrease in the number of cases, because in previous years there were generally more than 300 cases registered.

In Angola, the approach to the importance of breast self-examination in preventing cancer of this organ is still quite deficient, many patients seek the services of the local Oncology Center when the disease is at an advanced stage, which has been making it difficult to treat the disease and they end up dying with the cancer, leaving the families destitute."

Unfortunately, in the country there are not so many hospitals and highly qualified doctors to detect the disease in the first aid, as a result they end up making misdiagnoses, which worsens the patient's health even more.

However, this campaign was developed from the perspective of raising awareness and sensitize Angolan women to the importance of early diagnosis in breast cancer prevention".

Our online Breast Cancer Slowdown program is made up of only 4 Hybrid Docuseries based on real stories and was specially developed for this weekend.

We are sorry that some of you were not able to attend the first part of this campaign. We think that you might be interested in and benefit from watching the entire campaign.

In case you missed out, you can still watch the campaign recordings  by clicking to this link: https://sofoniedala.blogspot.com/2021/10/breast-cancer-slowdown-campaign-with.html

Scope of the problem

In 2020, there were 2.3 million women diagnosed with breast cancer and 685 000 deaths globally. As of the end of 2020, there were 7.8 million women alive who were diagnosed with breast cancer in the past 5 years, making it the world’s most prevalent cancer. Breast cancer occurs in every country of the world in women at any age after puberty but with increasing rates in later life.  

Who is at risk?

Breast cancer is not a transmissible or infectious disease. There are no known viral or bacterial infections linked to the development of breast cancer.

Approximately half of breast cancers develop in women who have no identifiable breast cancer risk factor other than gender (female) and age (over 40 years). Certain factors increase the risk of breast cancer including increasing age, obesity, harmful use of alcohol, family history of breast cancer, history of radiation exposure, reproductive history (such as age that menstrual periods began and age at first pregnancy), tobacco use and postmenopausal hormone therapy.

Behavioural choices and related interventions that reduce the risk of breast cancer include:

• prolonged breastfeeding;
• regular physical activity;
• weight control;
• avoidance of harmful use of alcohol;
• avoidance of exposure to tobacco smoke;
• avoidance of prolonged use of hormones; and  
• avoidance of excessive radiation exposure.

Unfortunately, even if all of the potentially modifiable risk factors could be controlled, this would only reduce the risk of developing breast cancer by at most 30%.

Female gender is the strongest breast cancer risk factor.  Approximately 0.5-1% of breast cancers occur in men. 

Treatment

Breast cancer treatment can be highly effective, achieving survival probabilities of 90% or higher, particularly when the disease is identified early. Treatment generally consists of surgery and radiation therapy for control of the disease in the breast, lymph nodes and surrounding areas (locoregional control) and systemic therapy (anti-cancer medicines given by mouth or intravenously) to treat and/or reduce the risk of the cancer spreading (metastasis). Anti-cancer medicines include endocrine (hormone) therapy, chemotherapy and in some cases targeted biologic therapy (antibodies).

Donate

There are a number of ways to support those affected by breast cancer. Whether helping the community as a whole or donating in honor of or in memory of a loved one, each donation helps sustain our mission to educate the community and fight to end breast cancer.

Your gift means we can bring hope to cancer patients. Together we are fighting cancer smarter, better and harder than we ever have before. Thank you for your support.

SAYING GOODBYE TO PINK OCTOBER - AWARENESS MARCH AGAINST BREAST CANCER. BY SOFONIE DALA, ANGOLA

Part 1 

Our motto is: "Lower cancer and never cancer"

Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in women. 

A long march, praises and fervent prayers marked the last Sunday of October.

This is how we are ending the Pink October - fighting breast cancer together with the Seventh-day Adventist Church's Women's Ministry. 

On this day the Angolan population woke up surprised by our movement on the road.

We went to the road with a long march where dozens of women and girls including some male representatives took part in this initiative.

Every year thousands of women become fatal victims of breast cancer. We are losing our families, friends, sisters and neighbors due to this malignant tumor.

Especially the poorer women who only discover the disease in the final stage due to the lack of financial resources to consult a good hospital with good specialists who can diagnose the disease on time.

We mobilized hundreds or even thousands of people who came across us on the street.

Breast cancer is a very serious disease that needs to be fought. We encourage women to regularly consult a doctor for the early diagnosis of cancer. Reasons why we are here in the fight against breast cancer.

With you was Sofonie Dala. Greetings everyone!

Interview with the district director of the Ministry of Women.

Good morning sister!

Please introduce yourself and tell us a little about this program.

Good morning my dear sister!

My name is Ana Victorino Paulino, director of the Women's Ministry of the popular neighborhood district!

As you can see here all women in uniform, we organized this march to raise awareness about breast cancer and uterine cancer. We marched from the 1st of May region to the Santa Ana de Luanda wake.

One of the main reasons for this march is to be able to rescue many women who are being affected and oppressed by breast cancer and cannot get rid of them alone.

When they see the population or a group of women stunned, they will feel motivated to fight.

We have prepared special messages for many women to wake up and do the consultation and control of breast or uterine cancer. We are in the church not only to worship God but also to be able to rescue souls, doing social work and also working with the state.

This is the reason for the participation of these women to be able to manifest and fight cancer.

Our motto is: "Lower cancer and never cancer".

We know that with divine power we will overcome cancer. The local police support us and accompany us to the point of arrival.

We managed to reach a good part of the population of Luanda and we saw the satisfaction on the faces of many who appreciated us along the way.

So thank you very much, we have the feeling of mission accomplished.

And which church organized it?

This was a particular initiative of one of the districts of the Seventh-day Adventist Church (District Popular Neighborhood).

October 30th: Never cancer, and that's how we ended the month.

OK thank you.

Thank you, kisses.

A classic picture of Peau d'orange. One of the signs of breast cancer.

Breast skin VS Orange skin

In Africa, breast cancer kills more women over age 40 than HIV/AIDS & Malaria Combined. Unfortunately, there is no basic awareness about breast cancer in Africa.

MINISTRY OF WOMAM IS MAKING STRIDES AGAINST BREAST CANCER - PART 2. BY SOFONIE DALA, ANGOLA

The full long march

Churches are not oblivious to the critical situations that occur in the country

Part 2

The month of October couldn’t end without Lifting up with Luanda city turning pink in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. 

The Seventh-day Adventist Church is making sure to spread breast cancer awareness in the wake of losing women to the deadly disease.

Interview with women who have already lost someone to breast cancer

Good afternoon mam!

Good afternoon.

What are you doing here?

We are running a religious campaign that encourages the fight against breast cancer.

Do you know someone who has been a victim of breast cancer?

Yes, I am very sad because this very dangerous disease that kills urgently, by chance also killed my neighbor. I recently lost a friend who suffered from this disease, she struggled a lot with it, but unfortunately last week she passed away.

She left me an emptiness and a very deep pain.

What a pity, what a pity!

This situation is very sad, we must reinforce the fight against breast cancer, because it is a disease that is killing many women.

Another additional interview

Good morning mam!

Good morning sister!

How did the march go?

Thank God it went very well.

Did you like the experience?

I really enjoyed this experience.

Do you know someone who has been a victim of breast cancer?

Not very well.

But did you march to motivate other women?

Yes, I marched to give strength to other women, and also to appeal for other women to be present next time, and also to invest in the walks to draw the attention of other sisters so that they join us.