Uganda – Ibanda Hospital

Challenging perceptions about cervical cancer in Uganda

While cervical cancer is a largely preventable disease in the UK, in Uganda it kills over 2,500 women every year, more than any other cancer. Many of these lives could easily be saved with screening and early treatment. However a simple lack of knowledge and misinformation stands in the way of progress in this area of health care.

Sister Specious Kasmishani is the Head Nurse at Ibanda Hospital in western Uganda, and is passionate about using Medical Aid Films content. She is using the films about cervical cancer, generously funded by the Orange Foundation, to train heath workers and educate women about screening and treatment.

The films help solve common misunderstandings about the screening process, for example some of the women think that when they come for testing the doctor will take out their uterus, check it, and put it back. The film has helped remove this fear and encouraged more women to get checked out.

“The films are so important, because if the clients see their fellow women being examined, they also feel they should pass through the same exercise without getting any fear. When they come and watch the films, you find that they have become confident and then they screen comfortably.”

These films are helping to improve understanding about why screening is so important, ensuring more women receive treatment before it is too late.