Downstaging Breast Cancer in Tanzania
Project Description
Tara Rick, MA, Adjunct Professor in the Physician Assistant Program was awarded $1000 for Downstaging Breast Cancer in Tanzania. Breast cancer is the number cancer killer of women worldwide. In developing countries such as Tanzania, non-communicable diseases such as cancer are on the rise. Most breast cancer are diagnosed at late state, when palliative care is the only treatment available. Currently, there are no population based breast cancer screening programs in the country and women rely on community level healthcare providers (PA analogs) to recognize malignant masses at earlier stages. However, most front line Tanzanian health care providers have not had formal education on cancer and many breast cancer go undiagnosed. This project proposed to develop a breast cancer training programs that focused on the risk factor of education, signs and concerning exam findings. Knowledge is power and a breast cancer education campaign for health care providers in Tanzania has the real potential to downstage breast cancer and saves lives at a low cost.