and Ford Foundation through the “Look Again” campaign trained healthcare professionals working at the primary and community levels across the country on early detection and treatment of childhood cancers.

“You have to remember these are people with a high workload, working in resource-deficient conditions.

Whatever you are bringing to them needs to be simple, time-efficient, and easily reproducible. They are the first point of contact for many children and families, from vaccination days at the primary health centers, to well-child visits, they see the children way before any specialist pediatrician or oncologist is going to get to them.

“When they see these children, we want to make sure they remember two things: what to look for; and where to send the child should they notice any of the signs. While malaria may be the most common thing they’ll continue to see, we are working to ensure they don’t forget to Look Again,” she said.

The Foundation Programs Lead, Korede Akindele, reiterated the importance of the project to the foundation and the country in stemming childhood cancer.

“We have been working on this project for two years and we have trained over 700 primary healthcare workers in Ogun, Oyo and Lagos. The Look Again Campaign was designed in recognition of the fact that these healthcare professionals at the community level are the first point of call for children who suffer from illness, and are thus key stakeholders and a rate-limiting step in the early identification of signs and symptoms of childhood cancer and appropriate referral for diagnosis and treatment,’ he explained.

They said the group, which is made up of young professionals are passionate about mitigating the burden of cancer in children through early detection and believes the best way to approach this is the proper sensitization of all stakeholders as this will help create positive ripple effects in terms of cancer awareness and treatment.

source: MedicalWorldNigeria