Background and Context:
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide, and the number of cases is increasing in nearly every region and in every country. Susan G. Komen works on many levels to empower women and men around the world to take charge of their health and give those affected by breast cancer a strong sense of hope, courage and community. Our global programs aim to reduce breast cancer deaths by increasing early detection and access to quality breast cancer care and treatment.
Aim:
We will present key lessons learned, unique approaches, and common themes. We want to share these practices in an effort to promote knowledge sharing among organizations working in breast health and women’s health issues more broadly.
Strategy/Tactics:
Because we believe that where a woman lives should not determine whether she lives, Komen is funding creative and impactful programs that address health disparities in communities around the world. Four examples of such initiatives include the: 1) Guna community in Panama, 2) Maassai community in Kenya, 3) Roma community in Hungary and 4) Arab Bedouin community in Israel.
Programme/Policy Process:
In collaboration with local partners, Komen is addressing cultural barriers in the delivery of breast health messages by implementing projects that provide reliable, evidence based, and culturally appropriate information about the importance of early detection. These projects aim to increase the capacity of the target groups and transform community leaders into breast health promoters. The projects ultimately help underserved women be proactive and empowered in their breast health and knowledgeable on how to communicate with health professionals.
Outcomes/What was learned:
Culturally appropriate education programs implemented by community members raise awareness about breast cancer and inspire participants to take action to protect their health.