MANDEVILLE, Manchester — More than 100 people here benefited from cancer screening on Thursday even as others, including nursing students, were engaged in sensitisation sessions.

Manchester’s Medical Officer of Health Dr Nadine Williams told the Jamaica Observer that Thursday’s activity at Mandeville Parish Church Hall was a continuation of Southern Regional Health Authority’s (SRHA) annual cancer screening and awareness programme.

Dr Williams said that pap smears for cervical cancer, clinical breast examination for breast cancer, digital rectal examination for prostate cancer were the main tests offered.

She pointed out that HPA and hepatitis B vaccines were also administered.

“What we seek to do in terms of cancer prevention and cancer awareness and care is to educate persons about the different cancers. We conduct screening at any opportunity that we get. When they come in for high blood pressure or diabetes [checkups] we offer them pap smear or the breast examinations [are] done,” she said.

She explained that the SRHA, which oversees public health-care services in Manchester, Clarendon, and St Elizabeth, provides some amount of cancer treatment.

“In terms of cancer care we offer diagnostic services, and if we are not able to do it in our facilities, they are outsourced through public/private partnerships, and in terms of treatment we can do some in our region,” she said.

“Nationally, we have cancer treatment centres that we can also refer to. We also have an oncology centre in Mandeville as part of the hospital, so clients can go there to be seen by a specialist and to get their chemotherapy done. We don’t have any radiotherapy services right now in the parish, so we send them [patients] to Cornwall Regional Hospital or to Kingston,” added Dr Williams

Pointing out that Thursday was celebrated as International Child Cancer Awareness Day, Dr Williams said, “It is very important for us to spread awareness, because people tend to forget that children can get cancer. Even the babies, from they are born, they can have cancer growing, so we want persons to be aware of that…Early detection can lead to recovery, complete cure in the majority of cases for the children and it also applies to adults.”

Mandeville resident Trevor Watson, 62, told the Observer that he and his wife benefited from the medical screening on Thursday.

“It is long time I didn’t do any tests. I used to do it every year when I did farm work, but I stopped a long time ago, so now I just came to check everything
— prostate, blood tests, cholesterol, sugar and pressure. Everything is normal except the pressure. My wife also came to do her tests,” he said.

“When you reach a certain age you are supposed to know your numbers,” he said in reference to the Ministry of Health’s Know Your Numbers campaign.

The nursing students at the event were from Institute of Innovation and Technology, National College of Professional Studies, Knox Community College School of Nursing, and Northern Caribbean University School of Nursing.