Cancer victims told to end “silent fight”

In September and October, awareness for two of the leading causes of death among Caribbean men and women were observed – prostate and breast cancer, and a local medical official is hoping to see a change in the trend of victims hiding their diagnosis and fighting the illness alone.

Health Psychologist and Founder of SCORCH Cancer Support Foundation, Dr Jozelle Miller, which stands for ‘I Am Standing Strong Courageous Optimistic Resilient Confident and Hopeful’, said one of the things that still continues to be a challenge in the cancer fight is victims keeping their diagnosis a secret from employers, friends and family.

“One of the things that persons do is deal with their diagnosis in silence, they keep it to themselves out of fear of how they possibly are going to be treated.”

Despite cancer being a non-communicable disease, Dr Miller said there is still a stigma around cancers which can make victims feel unwilling to seek out support.

“I think cancer is still very much a misunderstood illness so there is somewhat of a stigma attached to it depending on the nature of the cancer and because persons are so fearful and by the time you hear cancer most people already believe they are going to die. So they don’t tell people because they are fearful now that people are going to impose this negative image which will then affect their own level of resilience.”

Just last week, the St Vincent and the Grenadines Medical Association (SVGMA) hosted its annual Pink Cap Walk as part of the breast cancer awareness activities where a record number of participants came out to support. A Tug-O-War event was also hosted in late September as part of the awareness for prostate cancer. Dr Miller noted while there has been increased awareness by organizations and civil society groups, the onus remains on the individual to utilize the mechanisms of support made available through the island’s main medical facility and support groups such as SCORCH.

“We see a lot of organizations doing stuff… it doesn’t mean that when it comes down to the individual level that it pans out the same… When a patient is diagnosed there is preliminary counselling about what the diagnosis means; when they are going to start treatment they are sent to the Psychology Department to prepare their minds for chemotherapy or radiology. The responsibility is on the individual to make sure they seek out the help that they need. People cannot support what they don’t know.”

Dr Miller said while the local cancer fight has many aspects that need additional support, she highlighted specialized research for cancer treatment as it relates to Vincentians and Afro-Caribbean people as high priority.

“What is seriously lacking in St Vincent and the [Caribbean] region is direct research that speaks to our own culture and environments. A lot of the treatment protocols would come down from North America and Europe and all of these places. When we have research that is geared towards us in the Caribbean, in St Vincent it can impact the treatment pathway.”

This, she said, would result in treatment options that can lead to better outcomes.

“In terms of deep research – looking at the prevalence, types of cancers, who is more susceptible and why, this is the type of information that is necessary in terms of cancer response.”