Dr Tshego Gopane has been performing free pap smear screening for rural women which saved many lives due to early detection of cancer.; believes access to healthcare in rural communities is still a major challenge. Dr Tshego Gopane realised that, in most cases, local communities in rural areas lack information on cancer.
Gopane started her “Tshela” meaning to live, consulting project five years ago. She was driven mostly by empowering those living in rural communities by attempting to change their various health issues.“Because of them being rural, sometimes they’re not empowered with knowledge. So the primary goal was really to advocate health and to engage and go down to the most rural area and say ‘this is why a pap smear is done, we can bring it to you.
“When we have identified an illness; because of the challenges of the healthcare system, which is a burden. 84 % of our people use the public health system and in the rural location, it’s transport issues when we refer. Our referral centre is in Kimberley, so there are long waiting periods for our patients to get treatment.
“I got relieved the moment the hospital told me they didn’t detect anything. I was happy because there were moments were I thought the cancer might have spread, but once the doctors said there was nothing, I was happy.”“I was referred to the Kimberley Hospital and got tested there. They also gave me pills.
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Source: SABC News Online - 🏆 32. / 51 Read more »
Source: SABC News Online - 🏆 32. / 51 Read more »