he Health Department has joined hands with a project, undertaken jointly by the NGOs RTI International and city-based Snehitha Women’s Health Foundation, to launch oncology education for primary care physicians on the mobile platform.
The project, funded by the U.S National Institutes of Health, is also supported by the Regional Cancer Centre.
“A significant proportion of cancers, especially breast cancers, are detected at a late stage in our settings, leading to high mortality and morbidity. We need to motivate people for early detection before they become ‘cases’ . This is possible only if the primary care physicians have the skills to pick up early cancer signs and refer people to appropriate centres at the right time,” says Regi Jose, principal investigator of the project and Professor of Community Medicine, Sree Gokulam Medical College here.
Oncology education
The mobile oncology education application, M-Onco Ed, developed by Dr. Jose and her team, is intended to empower primary care providers with adequate oncology education.
“The app has three learning modules on breast, oral and cervical cancers which are much amenable to early detection. The modules take the physicians through basic oncology education such as awareness of cancer risk factors, symptoms, appropriate use of screening approaches for early detection of cancers and the basics of clinical examination,” says Dr. Jose.
The modules have been prepared by renowned cancer experts, including R. Sankaranarayanan.
Web link
The 8.2 Mb app can be downloaded on Android smartphones using a Web link. Once registered, doctors can go through the modules, which include voice overs and clinical exam demonstrations, at leisure. Once they finish the modules, they are expected to take a post-learning test, after which they will be issued a digital certificate signed jointly by all project collaborators.
“We decided to promote the app amongst our primary care physicians in all districts as part of our Non- Communicable Diseases Control project, after the pilot launch in Thiruvananthapuram district brought good feedback from doctors. The link has been provided to all physicians in primary care institutions,” Bipin Gopal, State Nodal Officer for NCD Control, says.