KYULE: Journalists have important role to play in breast cancer awareness

October has long been linked with pink ribbons and global breast cancer awareness campaigns. In Kenya, communications practitioners and journalists are increasingly on the frontlines of that fight, writing the headlines that could make the difference between an early diagnosis and an unwarranted delay.

Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women in Kenya. The National Cancer Institute of Kenya has approximated the new cases to be about 6,799 women per year and more than 3,100 annual deaths due to cancer.

It is the second leading cause of cancer-related death in the country, after cervical cancer.

The challenge is that nearly seven in 10 diagnoses are advanced stages (three and four).

Everywhere in the world, according to the World Health Organization, breast cancer is rising at a pace that health systems cannot keep up with.

If action is not taken, it is estimated that by 2050, there will be a rise of 38 per cent of cases and mortality by nearly 70 per cent, mostly in low- and middle-income countries. In Kenya, breast cancer is driven by lifestyle, late screening and scarce diagnostic facilities.

Here is where journalists and communicators come in. What they do connects numbers to context and puts public health in motion. A media story that walks a woman from symptoms to diagnosis can turn numbers into something tangible and provoke response in a way policy briefs can only hope for.

Likewise, coverage that speaks to how breast cancer impacts both men and women, although not typically reported, would serve to dissect stigma and raise awareness. 

Accuracy is necessary in quality reporting, nonetheless. The Ministry of Health has highlighted risk factors such as family history, obesity, alcoholism and hormonal exposure in its National Cancer Treatment Guidelines.

It also explains that Kenyan women are infected with breast cancer at an early age compared to women in Western countries. Reporters enlighten readers by reporting such facts that breast cancer is not some far-off reality but a pending public health concern.

Kenya is also ahead in breast cancer treatment capacity in Africa at a national level of preparedness of 66.7 per cent, significantly higher than the 37 per cent average across the continent.

Media practitioners can use their platforms to question whether this readiness ever reaches rural hospitals, and whether facilities for screening ever come to life for the majority.

Access to information is a hindrance.

A recent study presented on PubMed found that 44.4 per cent of women of reproductive age in Kenya are aware that early cancer diagnosis can be made using breast self-examination.

That gap can be filled by the media themselves — with ongoing, home-language information on television, radio, newspapers and the internet.

In conclusion, journalism is not just about delivering facts but rather about serving the public. During Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and every month after it, communications professionals are agents of change. Sharing stories that impact and reporting credibly can make awareness a step, and a step a hope.