Health Program Update - Cancer Screening Successes

Today we write with an update on the Health Program's recent Cervical Cancer Screening Campaign.   As you may recall, our nurses were recently trained to administer the test, meaning that they can do so at any time.  However, to celebrate this milestone and reach as many women as possible, on September 21st we publicized and held a Screening Day in which we tried to get as many attendees from the surrounding communities as possible.  We also brought in two additional nurses from out of town to handle the expected load, and to help explain the testing process, the benefits of frequent testing, and the greatly increased survival rate with early detection.

Women attending the cancer screening session listen to the directions of the nurses.

The end result was a great success, as we had 34 women from Iltilal, Langata, and other surrounding bomas and villages make the trip to the Iltilal clinic for testing.  And because the clinic is now equipped to test at any time, we have tested a steady stream of women in the successive days.  Additionally, the screening launch allowed us to expand access to our long-term family planning program, with 6 new enrollments.  Following the success of this screening day, we hope to implement similar programs in the other three clinics on Kuku Group Ranch.  Efforts like this show how receptive the Maasai are to these efforts to improve their health and living conditions if we present them the right way.  Time to get back to work!

The Community Health Workers and district health personnel after a successful day at the clinic.