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Lebanon marches to raise awareness on colon cancer
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BEIRUT: Effective awareness campaigns on medical issues leads to a better understanding of them, hence leading to a step forward towards screening and prevention, a study by Said NGO titled “Colorectal Cancer: Exploring awareness in Lebanon” has shown.
Based on this study, a number of awareness sessions and on field experience, the NGO is organizing a walkathon this Sunday under the slogan "be fit, do FIT"
The walkathon will be part of the global event "March in Blue," which is dedicated to raising awareness on CRC worldwide.
"Lack of awareness on CRC and its common risks and symptoms terminology is a barrier to CRC screening; accordingly, the issue needs to be more highlighted," the study mentioned.
CRC is the second most dangerous type of cancer, yet the most preventable if discovered and treated at early stages.
Said NGO, whose establishment was inspired by a personal experience Hana Nemer went through, is itself a light in the midst of darkness, represented by lack of awareness on this critical type of cancer.
After Nemer's husband was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2009 and passed away in 2012, she turned this sad incident into a positive turning point. In 2015, Nemer applied for all the required papers to establish an NGO to raise awareness on this fatal disease.
Said NGO was officially launched in February 2016 by four founding members. However, the NGO was organizing awareness sessions free of charge in all areas in Lebanon since November 2015. The sessions take place in churches, social centers, and other venues.
One of the awareness sessions Said NGO organized. (Photo from Said NGO Facebook Page).
During the same period, Said NGO has also conducted scientific studies and gathered samples from all over Lebanon, Nemer tells Annahar.
"We found that only 39% have heard of colon cancer, and the results showed that they know about it from a family member who has suffered from it," she says.
She added that awareness is essential for CRC especially that it's the second deadliest cancer, and it affects 1 out of 20 people, both men, and women. "We hope that people become aware that the earlier CRC is detected, the faster it is healed,” she says.
Eager to spread awareness, Nemer tries the best she can to inform people. “I even stop people on the sidewalk sometimes, and I tell them that F.I.T. test should be done for everyone between 45 and 65 years old,” she tells Annahar.
What people need to do, she says is to do the FIT test in any laboratory.
Sunday’s walkathon is waiting for parents to walk with their children, and Said NGO is expecting more than 500 people. Nemer wants everyone to hear about this cancer, even the young generation.
Activities at Lebanon’s first walkathon to raise awareness over colon cancer include distributing blue t-shirts, music, karaoke, tombola, a live band performance, and a free FIT test offered by FUJIFilM.
A healthy lifestyle and a clean diet are also major factors.
Nemer herself has worked on a healthier lifestyle mainly through exercising. She won second place in her age category for 42k at Beirut Marathon. “I trained for 5 months and it was really worth it,” she says.
She mentions that a number of studies reveal how this type of cancer increases as the intake of junk food increases.
“Let’s decrease our consumption of red meat, processed food, alcohol, stress, and do more sports,” she tells Annahar.
According to Nemer, on February 15, the Ministry of Health will launch the colon cancer campaign. Said NGO has been campaigning in this regard for three years. “We wanted to have a national committee to launch a national campaign for colon cancer,” she says.
Nemer has been part of the committee for two years, and they have worked on launching the plan in April.
In addition to 135 lectures all over Lebanon, participating in NGO fairs, and outreach programs in hospitals, Said NGO has created an inflatable colon that people can get into to study how it works.
A study published in 2018 titled “Inflatable Colon: A Tool to Raise Awareness of the Importance Of colorectal Cancer Screening” revealed that “upon comparing results before and after the tour, the use of an inflatable colon has increased knowledge of colorectal cancer and its corresponding screening practice by 49.6%”.
The study adds that “these findings are used to encourage and support concerned non-governmental organizations to adopt new awareness campaigns which have proven successful, and to provide evidence based on facts to government officials in the Ministry of Health to support national awareness campaigns and preventive efforts to mitigate CRC.”
The research aimed to assess the knowledge of a sample of Lebanese citizens of CRC, after going on a tour through a giant inflatable, walk-through colon model equipped with physical depictions of healthy tissue, polyps, and CRC. A sample of 629 participants completed a simple structured questionnaire directed to assess their knowledge of colon cancer and the behavioral intentions of obtaining CRC screening, both before and after going on the Inflatable Colon (IC) tour.
Another study entitled “Colorectal Cancer: Exploring awareness in Lebanon” revealed that respondents that have never heard about it exceed 59%; likewise, the study underlines the lack of knowledge on CRC screening where the percentage of respondents that have heard about it while claiming that they are familiar with CRC does not exceed 57.17%.
The study adds: “Similarly, the results revealed poor knowledge in what relates to CRC risk factors and symptoms.”
Said NGO’s study concluded that the lack of awareness on CRC and its common risks and symptoms terminology “is a barrier to CRC screening; accordingly, effective awareness campaigns are needed to highlight these issues.”
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