Local News
South Africa Represented at UICC - World
Cancer Conference Shenchen China August 2010
Linda Greeff Chief persoonel Officer and Head of
Psychosocial Services GVI Oncology had the privalage to
be invited as a guest of the American Cancer Society to
attend the World Cancer Conference hosted by the Union
for International Cancer Control(UICC) in Shenchen China.
What a privilege it was to be part 3,222 participants from
92 different countries.
During the conference great emphases was placed on
addressing the 11 targets set by the UICC in the
WORLD CANCER DECLERATION for 2020 as
a call to action from the global cancer community to
international governmental organizations , the international
donor community, development agencies, professional
organizations, the private sector and all civil society to take immediate steps to slow and ultimately
reverse the growth in deaths from cancer, by committing to the targets set out below and providing
resources and political backing for the priority actions needed to achieve them
All participants were again encouraged to work towards addressing the 11 targets set by the
WORLD CANCER DECLERATION for 2020:.
Targets: by 2020
-
Sustainable delivery systems will be in place to ensure that effective cancer control
programmes are available in all countries
- The measurement of the global cancer burden and the impact of cancer control interventions
will have improved significantly
- Global tobacco consumption, obesity and alcohol intake levels will have fallen significantly
- Populations in the areas affected
by HPV and HBV will be covered
by universal vaccination
programmes
- Public attitudes towards cancer will
improve and damaging myths and
misconceptions about the disease
will be dispelled
- Many more cancers will be
diagnosed when still localized
through the provision of screening
and early detection programmes
and high levels of public and
professional awareness about
important cancer warning signs
- Access to accurate cancer
diagnosis, appropriate cancer
treatments, supportive care,
rehabilitation services and
palliative care will have improved
for all patients worldwide
- Effective pain control measures will
be available universally to all
cancer patients in pain
- The number of training
opportunities available for health
professionals in different aspects of
cancer control will have improved
significantly
- Emigration of health workers with
specialist training in cancer control
will have reduced dramatically
- There will be major improvements
in cancer survival rates in all
countries
This conference provided a wonderful opportunity for networking and best practice
sharing as well as feedback on state of the art research being done across the cancer field
addressing issues like :
-
Actions for System Change: Advocacy, Organisational Branding and Fundraising
-
Breast Cancer
-
Cervical Cancer: Initiatives in Screening and Prevention
-
Economic Cost of Cancer
-
Frameworks for System Change: Effective Organizational Structures, Taxation
for Funding, and National Cancer Plans
-
Head & Neck Cancer, Lung Cancer and Oesophageal Cancer
-
Implementation: Interventions in Cancer Screening and Prevention
-
Infectious Agents and Cancer Risk
-
New Insights in Causes of Cancer
-
Novel Applications of Data in Cancer Control
-
Pathology and Clinic
-
Preventing Tobacco Related Cancer
-
Public Health Intervention to Reduce Tobacco Use
-
Supportive and Palliative Care 1 & 2
One of the highlights of this conference was the attendance by the First Lady of
the Republic of South Africa, Madam Tobeka Zuma who is actively involved in
the fight against cervical cancer in our country and a leading advocate for
change in Africa. Visit this link for more information re this initiative
http://forum.firstladies.tv/
Click here
to download the PDF version
WORKSHOP - AMATOLA TRADITIONAL LEADERS
EASTERN CAPE
On 12 MAY 2010 the GVI Border Oncology unit hosted, in
conjunction with the Department of Health, a Men’s
Health Workshop aimed at cancer awareness at the
Mngqesha Great Place. The objectives were aimed at the
traditional leaders in the area so that they can inform
and direct their constituents regarding:
-
education about prostate and testicular cancer.
-
information about cancer and its treatment in the rural
communities.
- the
partnership between GVI Oncology and the DOH in the
Eastern Cape.
- GVI
Oncology and the ICON network.
145 kings, princes and chiefs
Various speakers that included Mr Nyamakazi (DOH), Dr
Sithlu(GVI Oncology), Dr De Villiers(ICON), GVI Oncology
chemotherapy-, radiotherapy- and oncology social work
staff members emphasised the importance of early
detection as well as the treatment methodologies
available. Delegates from CANCA and Hospice also
explained their roles in this important stance against
the disease.
GVI Oncology delegates
The audience thanked GVI Oncology and DOH for bringing
the valuable information to them especially
concentrating on men’s health that is neglected in most
awareness drives and is heavily stigmatised. They
indicated that they will make sure that they take this
information to their designated areas and that GVI
Oncology will be invited to their areas for further
cancer education to their communities.
On site PSA testing
Port Elizabeth is now home to some of the world’s
most state-of-the-art medical equipment. The Langenhoven
Drive Oncology Centre – run by GVI Oncology – added the
finishing touches to its new unit and became fully
operational at the beginning of August 2010.
The new cancer centre in Port Elizabeth boasts with two
Siemens Artiste linear accelerators, each with a
160-leaf MLC, 1024K EPID as well as megavoltage cone
beam CT imaging functionality. In addition to its
modern radiotherapy department, the unit also has a
fully equipped chemotherapy room, a clinical research
unit, on-site radiology and pathology services and
specialist consultation suites.
Picture1: The very proud practice manager of Port
Elizabeth’s new cancer centre.
The GVI Outeniqua Oncology Unit in George is
currently undergoing a major expansion process. We’ve
already moved into our expanded chemotherapy treatment
area, for which we have acquired additional Western Cape
Dept. of Health’s Regulation 187 treatment licensing to
bring our allotted treatment stations to twenty. We’re
also constructing a dedicated oncology clinical trials
unit which should be active from January 2011. Through
this we hope to treat our patients in a more relaxed
environment and to provide the Southern Cape area with
more treatment options and facilities.
(1 – GVI OOU Clinical Trials Area; 2 – GVI OOU Chemo
Area Garden; 3 – GVI OOU Chemo Area Treatment)
EMR
GVI Oncology has elected Profdoc as electronic medical
records (EMR) system of choice. The reason being that
some of the advantages of Profdoc include:
-
Relatively inexpensive
-
Paperless practice
- Secure
patient records which are immediately assessable
- Meets
the requirements of the
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guidelines on
electronic records and
electronic signatures in the
United States Code for Federal Regulation (Title 21
CFR Part 11) and thus suitable for use in Clinical
Trials
- Full
audit trail
- User
friendly
-
Clinical focus
-
Generic system that can be adapted for specific use
- Local
Profdoc office for support
GVI Oncology has implemented Profdoc Medical Office
(PMO) at 5 units with great success. The full
implementation is aimed to be complete by June 2011. PMO
has removed the burden of paper files from the units
where it has been implemented and significantly improved
the availability of patient records.
A major milestone was reached when chemotherapy
prescriptions and administration was successfully
implemented in Profdoc. Another benefit is that with a
minimal effort, GVI Oncologists can access Profdoc from
home to ensure that on-call clinical notes and ward
visits are recorded as soon as possible. All the
functional areas that relate to patient care has access
to Profdoc and make use of the system. Recently GVI
Oncology has embarked on a pilot project with Pathcare
to receive patient pathology results directly into the
patient record. This feature promises to ease the
workload on unit staff and make the pathology results
very accessible.
Profdoc has also started to bear fruits to other parts
of GVI Oncology that are not directly related to patient
care. The centralised debtors department has access to
Profdoc in order to perform on-line queries across a
number of units. This has resulted in a more
stream-lined approach to account related queries. The
data contained in Profdoc is being made use of by
utilising the reporting tools built into the
application.
Figure 1: Example of a chemotherapy prescription
Figure 2: Example of chemotherapy
administration with full audit trail at the bottom of
the screen.
