Cancer is like a giant monster that no one has been able to tame, despite the remarkable technological advances available for its treatment. In fact, every year it closely touches thousands of families in the territory of Holguin and leaves, in its wake, a trail of pain, sadness and uncertainty.
However, many of the oncological locations show warning signs and symptoms that should not go unnoticed for an early detection of the disease and, logically, a better chance of cure for those affected. For this reason, the actions of prevention and health promotion together with the active research are essential if it is about this disease, current second cause of death in the province of Holguin.
About the World Day of Fight against Cancer, a day that began in early February with the celebration of the Mole Day and that extends until about March 15, with the race for hope. Hence, in the northeastern territory, several scientific and educational actions, active researches for the detection of these locations, activities with community projects, elaboration of educational materials and promotion and education activities in waiting rooms of health services in almost all the municipalities of Holguin’s geography are carried out.
The professionals in charge of oncology patient care are provided with training that reaches Primary Health Care (PHC) in order to improve the quality of screening, dispensing and timely diagnosis, with the aim of detecting it as early as possible and prolonging the patient’s life.
The province has territorial and reference services for the care of oncology patients, such as the Territorial Oncology Center and the Oncohematology Service of the pediatric hospital Octavio de la Concepción de la Pedraja.
In addition, there are determinations that help the Basic Health Teams to diagnose early the initial stages of cancer. These include SUMASOHF, known to check stool samples for hidden blood, for colon cancer and PSA, prostate specific antigen, to identify prostate cancer. Samples for these studies are processed in a network of laboratories of the Ultra Micro Analytical System (SUMA), present in the province.
It is necessary to take into account the so-called warning signs of cancer, signs and symptoms that people themselves can detect with a simple inspection of their body and in the presence of changes in its functioning to go to the family doctor and report it.
Sound lifestyles must be promoted, screening must be carried out, cancer patient treatment services must be improved, as well as palliative care, with a call to perfect the response to cancer control. It is time to make a personal commitment to stop smoking, exercise, eat a healthy diet, not expose oneself to ultraviolet rays without adequate protection, have protected sexual relations and especially to take the tests available in the 14 municipalities, in the SUMA laboratories.
The key to early detection is also to periodically perform breast exams to look for nodules or skin exams to identify any suspicious lesions. It is unfortunate that the main cause of potentially lost years of life are related to this disease, hence the importance of taking part in preventive activities to learn more about it and achieve greater survival. With these actions, we are in a better position to improve the quality of care for cancer patients and the health indicators that cause cancer to be among the leading causes of mortality in the country.
It is a challenge for the different levels of health to maintain a sustained work in the early detection of oncologic localizations, in the surveillance and active research of these is the key to stop their advance.
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