Passed along by Miranda (thanks!) with this comment:
I came across a really interesting video a while ago and thought it was super relevant to today’s lecture. It is about a project happening in Uganda where they are getting women to self swab to screen for cervical cancer in hopes to catch it early, as cervical cancer is the number one cancer in Uganda and it is very preventable if caught early. I thought it was relevant to what we were talking about today with women's reproductive health being taboo in some cultures and those barriers that exist in getting these women adequate health care. I thought the approach that this project takes is great to break down those barriers and still be respectful of the cultural norms.
The description, from the BC Centre of Disease Control, which collaborated on the project:
What happens to a family, community and country when a mother lives instead of dies? This is the fundamental question at the heart of When a Mother Lives, a 23 minute documentary from ASPIRE, a global health initiative about cervical cancer from the BC Centre for Disease Control. Set in Kisenyi, Uganda, the story is told through the lives of three women who live in Kisenyi as well as by interviewing various stakeholders in the project, including Ugandan researchers, clinicians, and the Ministry of Health. The goal of the documentary is to spread a positive message to funders and policy makers on how practical and sustainable action around cervical cancer screening can be taken in places where no screening currently exists. By transporting the viewer into the lives of the women, the video also brings greater understanding to their experiences and provides motivation to move forward for change.
When a Mother Lives was inspired by the idea of pairing a ‘tried and true’ model of community engagement and mobilization with a new and novel ‘leapfrog’ screening technology called HPV DNA testing. The video outlines “The ASPIRE Process” as an ecosystem consisting of six distinct, yet mutually reinforcing steps: Educate, Mobilize, Collect, Test, Treat, and Grow. Taken together, these steps layout a road map for how a cervical cancer screening program might be realized in low income settings like Kisenyi and provide a potential ‘recipe for success’ in further reducing the burden of cervical cancer in sub-Saharan Africa.
And the documentary: