Breast cancer awareness and training for women and community health workers in a Vietnamese ethnic minority

Supportive Fund for Cancer Patients - Bright Future – Vietnam

As part of the Breast Cancer programme, this project was awarded a grant for early detection of breast cancer in October 2022.

Project objectives

The objective of this project is to raise awareness among the Thai and Muong minority groups in remote areas of Vietnam about breast cancer, with the goal of reducing late diagnosis and mortality rates, and to build capacity of healthcare workers.

Project description

The project team collaborated with various stakeholders, including the National Cancer Institute and local hospitals and the local health department to carry out this project specifically in the Thai and Muong ethnic groups in mountainous areas of Vietnam, developing communication materials in ethnic languages, building capacity for health workers, and raising awareness in the ethnic minority community.

Through five training courses, 200 community health workers and health collaborators were trained on risk factors, early signs of breast cancer and the role of screening for early detection. In addition, collaborators were equipped with knowledge of communication and counselling skills.

The project organised three events, where participants had the opportunity to share their experiences and learn from doctors and breast cancer survivors. These events helped to raise awareness and educate 300 members of the community about the importance of screening for early detection of breast cancer.

The events were supplemented with short videos and communication materials in the ethnic languages, focusing on risk factors, early detection signs, breast self-examination, and the role of screening for early detection of breast cancer, which were developed by the team.