A Report from a Community-Centric Cancer Control Approach in the Post-Conflict Northern Province of Sri Lanka

Abiola N. Dosumu (), Antony J. Thanenthiran, Ganeshamoorthy Sritharan, Thanuja Mahendran, Rajendra Surenthirakumaran, Kandasamy Sithamparanathan, Stephanie Asence, Kathleen M. Decker and Sri Navaratnam ()
Additional contact information
Abiola N. Dosumu: Health Service Research Lab, Paul Albrechtsen Research Institute CancerCare Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3E 0V9, Canada
Antony J. Thanenthiran: Department of Surgical Oncology, Jaffna Teaching Hospital, Jaffna 40000, Sri Lanka
Ganeshamoorthy Sritharan: Department of Surgical Oncology, Jaffna Teaching Hospital, Jaffna 40000, Sri Lanka
Thanuja Mahendran: Department of Surgical Oncology, Jaffna Teaching Hospital, Jaffna 40000, Sri Lanka
Rajendra Surenthirakumaran: Department of Community and Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Jaffna, Jaffna 40000, Sri Lanka
Kandasamy Sithamparanathan: Department of Drama and Theatre, University of Jaffna, Jaffna 40000, Sri Lanka
Stephanie Asence: Health Service Research Lab, Paul Albrechtsen Research Institute CancerCare Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3E 0V9, Canada
Kathleen M. Decker: Health Service Research Lab, Paul Albrechtsen Research Institute CancerCare Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3E 0V9, Canada
Sri Navaratnam: Health Service Research Lab, Paul Albrechtsen Research Institute CancerCare Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3E 0V9, Canada

IJERPH, 2025, vol. 22, issue 10, 1-11

Abstract: Late-stage cancer diagnoses of prevalent cancers are increasing in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka, a region currently rebuilding its healthcare system after a prolonged civil war. In this region, cancer prevention services are limited. We describe a community-centric approach to cancer education and prevention as a strategy to cancer control in this rural, post-conflict region. Nursing students were trained as Community Cancer Educators (CCEs), equipping them with essential knowledge about cancer symptoms, risk factors, and the importance of early detection. The training also included creative methods such as dance and drama to help CCEs communicate cancer-related messages in an engaging and culturally relevant manner. These CCEs supported the oncologist-led community health camps in delivering cancer education and screening directly to community members within their community. We planned the health camps in collaboration with the existing community-based public health system for better outreach. Feedback from community participants and healthcare providers suggests that this community-centric approach can improve cancer awareness, encourage participation in population screening, and support early cancer detection. This approach could strengthen community engagement and contribute to more equitable access to prevention and screening services in rural, post-conflict settings with limited healthcare infrastructure.

Keywords: delivery of healthcare; community health services; health personnel; public health infrastructure; cancer risk factors; early detection of cancer; cancer control; resource-limited setting; Sri Lanka (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/22/10/1492/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/22/10/1492/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:22:y:2025:i:10:p:1492-:d:1759553

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().