Campaign provides information about cancer risks

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Cancer Care Ontario's Aboriginal Cancer Care Unit (ACCU) and the Ontario division of the Canadian Cancer Society are teaming up on a campaign aimed at educating Aboriginal people about cancer.

The campaign, Let's Take a Stand Against Cancer NOW!, had its launch in Sudbury on Dec. 12. The aim of the campaign is to provide information about cancer and to educate people on what they can do to decrease their cancer risk.

The main tool in the campaign is an information kit made up of eight fact sheets: Cancer in Ontario's First Nations People; Cancer Facts for Men; Cancer Facts for Women; Facing Cancer-With Help, which provides information about what cancer is and advice on how to cope after being diagnosed with cancer; How You Can Help; The Canadian Cancer Society is Here to Help; Seven Teachings to Health, dealing with preventative measures you can take to decrease your risk of developing cancer; and Tobacco, Keep it Sacred, which includes information about the ACCU's Aboriginal Tobacco Strategy and outlines the differences between sacred and commercial tobacco.

"The information is to help Aboriginal health professionals and professionals that provide services to the Aboriginal community," explained Carmen Jones, director of the ACCU. "This is a kit to help them make presentations."

The information in the kit focuses mainly on colorectal cancer and lung cancer because occurrences of those two types of cancer are increasing dramatically within the Aboriginal population.

In 1968, when Dr. Loraine Marrett, a researcher with Cancer Care Ontario, first began her research into cancer rates among Aboriginal people, there were very few cases of these types of cancer, said Jones.

"And now, over the last 40 years, colorectal cancer is now at the same level as the general population and it looks like it's going to go above. And lung cancer has been rising at the same rate and now we're at the level of the general population. So we are concerned about these particular cancers, because they're preventable," she said.

"I just think that this is a very, very important initiative. And I think one of the things that strikes me about this is that we have an opportunity to prevent cancers and not have an epidemic like we've seen in other areas, like diabetes."

While it's still too soon to gauge how the information kit will be received by care providers in First Nation communities, reaction from those attending the campaign launch was positive.

"We had very, very good response form people that were at the launch," Jones said. "We had cancer survivors there, we had people from the Aboriginal health access centres and people from the regional cancer centre there. So it was a very well attended launch and people were very pleased to see information like this going out."

Let's Take a Stand Against Cancer NOW! falls under the health promotion portion of the ACCU's four-point Aboriginal Cancer Strategy. The other three points include the Aboriginal Tobacco Strategy, research and surveillance, and outreach.

The idea of creating the campaign came out the needs assessment undertaken by the ACCU in 2002, which pointed to a need to develop culturally-appropriate materials to be used to educate members of the Aboriginal community about cancer.

To get a copy of the information kit, call the Canadian Cancer Society toll-free at 1-888-939-3333 or send an e-mail message to info@cis.cancer.ca.

The kit will be available online on the Aboriginal Cancer Care Unit's Web site by going to www.cancercare.on.ca and clicking on Aboriginal Cancer Strategy, and on the Canadian Cancer Society Web site at www.cancer.ca.

How to reduce your risk

The following tips, included in the Let's Take a Stand Against Cancer NOW! information package, can help you reduce your risk of developing cancer.

1.) Don't smoke-about 30 per cent of all cancer deaths in Canada are linked to smoking.

2) Eat healthy food-eat at least five servings of fruit or vegetables eachday. Eat foods high in fibre and low in fat.Limit alcohol intake.

3) Be active-regular exercise can help you stay healthy.

4) Be sensible in the sun-protect yourself and your family members from sun exposure. Check your skin regularly and report any changes to your doctor.

5) Follow cancer screening guidelines- regular screening tests, such as mammograms, pap tests and breast exams for women and testicular and prostate exams for men, can detect cancer early.

6) Report changes in your health-visit your doctor or dentist if you notice a change in your normal state of health.

7) Use caution with hazardous materials-follow health and safety instructions when using, storing or disposing of hazardous meterials.