On October 1st and 2nd, we officially launched our breast cancer awareness campaign by training 84 healthcare professionals from 15 health facilities across Tonkolili District.
During these two days of training, we covered:
the importance of breast cancer as a public health issue
the main signs, symptoms and risk factors
diagnostic methods and treatment options
and, most importantly, how to perform a clinical breast examination, with a practical session allowing participants to put their newly acquired knowledge into practice.
Why is this project necessary?
Breast cancer remains a largely neglected disease in Sierra Leone. There is no national breast cancer screening programme, treatment options are limited and often extremely expensive, public awareness remains low, and many healthcare professionals do not receive sufficient training in breast cancer care.
In Sierra Leone, around 80% of women diagnosed with breast cancer are diagnosed at an advanced stage of the disease, significantly reducing their chances of survival.
Behind these figures are many different realities: women who do not seek care because they do not know the symptoms, are afraid of the diagnosis, cannot afford healthcare, or have little trust in the healthcare system.
Others do seek care, but their cancer may unfortunately go unnoticed or be mistaken for another condition, such as an abscess.
This is why we are launching our new breast cancer awareness project.
Throughout October, we will visit secondary schools and rural health facilities in order to:
raise awareness among communities about breast cancer and the importance of early detection;
teach women to know and monitor their breasts;
offer clinical breast examinations to women who wish to have one;
and give the healthcare professionals we have recently trained the opportunity to put their new skills into practice.
And our commitment will not end in October. Starting next year, we will visit several rural communities every week to continue raising awareness and bring information and care closer to the women who need it most.
Because early detection can save lives.
Together, let’s give these women a chance.
Together, let’s fight breast cancer in Sierra Leone. 
