The Mozambique-Canada Maternal Health Project is happy to bring 2022 to a close with another successful round of clinical continuing education for women’s health. This time, the aim was to improve breast and cervical cancer prevention in Inhambane province.
Health practitioners from all five target districts participated in a centralized course, first, that combined theoretical learning in classrooms at the Massinga Health Training Institute with practical learning in the adjacent district hospital, followed by on-site training at each of the rural health facilities represented.
The training followed a Mozambique MoH program on breast and cancer screening that seeks to improve women’s health through early detection of breast and cervical cancer and early initiation of treatment where necessary. To this end, the project had purchased and installed three new cryotherapy units for three of the four new maternities built by the project ahead of time; the equipment had been provided at the fourth new maternity by its District Health Services (Homoine). On-site training included both quality patient care, breast and cervical cancer screening, and proper use of the cryotherapy equipment itself to remove lesions detected through screening. As a result, health workers at the 20 health facilities that attend to the project’s 20 partner communities, and that have cryotherapy capacity, were reached.
On-site training also involved administration of cryotherapy where required. Of 28 women screened for cervical cancer during the on-site training sessions, three women were identified with lesions and successfully treated. The next steps for those three women will involve referrals to the next level of care, which is now possible in the knowledge that care is required. Argentina Munguambe, the project’s Training Coordinator, states that she is especially happy with our progress in this area because the need for careful, routine screening is clear in order to prevent severe health complications for all women of reproductive age. Through this form of human resource and health system capacity-building, the project joins in the fight against breast and cervical cancer in the ongoing commitment to building healthier communities.
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