Low-cost Health Research Articles

Care trajectories of COVID-19 patients: from preventive measures to rehabilitation.

This study aims to analyze the care trajectories of patients diagnosed with COVID-19 who were hospitalized and are currently undergoing rehabilitation regarding their use of and access to the healthcare network (HN). An evaluative, qualitative study was carried out based on interviews with patients in the city of Niterói, Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil. The care trajectories were reconstructed at three different occasions that express their experiences with the healthcare and support network during the pandemic: prevention, support and diagnosis measures; hospitalization; post-COVID-19 care, rehabilitation and support. The results indicate that the main source of information about COVID-19 was TV newscasts. Preventive hygiene measures were the most widely adopted. The family was the main support network. There was no waiting time for admission to the municipal referral hospital. Hospitalization was very well evaluated in terms of user embracement, multidisciplinary care, virtual visits and daily contact between doctor and family members. A post-discharge "care vacuum" was identified, with no follow-up by primary health care (PHC) and other public services. Low-cost health insurance plans and private specialized post-COVID-19 services were frequently and spontaneously sought until the implementation of the rehabilitation service. In summary, solitary and discontinuous care trajectories of individuals and families shed light on several challenges to the health system, including guaranteed access to coordinated PHC and expanded offer of specialized public services and rehabilitation, aligned with the principles of humanized care, in addition to the maintenance of social support measures.

Trajetórias assistenciais de usuários com COVID-19: das medidas preventivas à reabilitação

This study aims to analyze the care trajectories of patients diagnosed with COVID-19 who were hospitalized and are currently undergoing rehabilitation regarding their use of and access to the healthcare network (HN). An evaluative, qualitative study was carried out based on interviews with patients in the city of Niterói, Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil. The care trajectories were reconstructed at three different occasions that express their experiences with the healthcare and support network during the pandemic: prevention, support and diagnosis measures; hospitalization; post-COVID-19 care, rehabilitation and support. The results indicate that the main source of information about COVID-19 was TV newscasts. Preventive hygiene measures were the most widely adopted. The family was the main support network. There was no waiting time for admission to the municipal referral hospital. Hospitalization was very well evaluated in terms of user embracement, multidisciplinary care, virtual visits and daily contact between doctor and family members. A post-discharge “care vacuum” was identified, with no follow-up by primary health care (PHC) and other public services. Low-cost health insurance plans and private specialized post-COVID-19 services were frequently and spontaneously sought until the implementation of the rehabilitation service. In summary, solitary and discontinuous care trajectories of individuals and families shed light on several challenges to the health system, including guaranteed access to coordinated PHC and expanded offer of specialized public services and rehabilitation, aligned with the principles of humanized care, in addition to the maintenance of social support measures.

Processo de trabalho em Clínicas Populares de Saúde na perspectiva de médicos

The objective of the study was to understand the perspective of doctors regarding the work process in Low-cost Health Clinics. To this end, we conducted qualitative research interviewing 8 young specialist doctors who work in these business firms in São Luís, Maranhão. We identified precarious working conditions, although presenting little resistance from the doctors, considering that these businesses are seen as spaces of projection in the local job market. Due to the limitations of the complaint-driven model of care, the interviewees activate an informal network, and the users of the Low-Cost Health Clinics are referred to the Brazilian National Health System (SUS). Thus, the physician’s work process is challenged by this fragmented care model, which blurs the boundaries in the public-private interfaces leading to a naturalized double gateway to the SUS.

Association between Anthropometry and Gestational Diabetes Mellitus

Introduction: The predictive value of various anthropometric indicators for identifying benefits or risksfor maternal health outcomes of pregnancy is discussed around the globe. Anthropometric measurements can be a cost effective, efficient method of screening for gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) especially, in developing countries with low-cost health care settings. Objectives: To determine a relationship between anthropometric measurements and GDM and to assess the importance/suitability of an anthropometric measurement in predicting GDM. Methods: A correlational study with the evaluation of diagnostic test accuracy was conducted among 48 pregnant women at period of amenorrhoea (POA) of 26 - 34 weeks of gestation. The obstetrics ward and the antenatal clinic of Peradeniya teaching hospital was the study setting. Systematic random sampling technique was used for participant selection. Singleton pregnancies with Body Mass Index (BMI) less than 30.0 kg/m2 were included. Women with pre-existing diabetes and medical disorders were excluded. Mid arm circumference (MAC), tricipital skin fold thickness (TSFT), bicipital skin fold thickness (BSFT) were measured according to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) anthropometry manual. An interviewer-administered questionnaire was applied to collect the data. Data was evaluated in accordance with the objectives by using SPSS version 25. Results: Mean age of the participants was 29.67 years (SD = 4.76 years). Mean height and weight of the study participants were 154.93 cm and 67.45 kg respectively. Mean BMI value was recorded as 28.13 kgm2. Mean mid arm circumference was 9.43 cm. According to the multivariate analysis done by using logistic regression, calculated TSFT and BSFT values were independently associated with GDM in the population. Successful prediction can be achieved by using the BMI and the body weight (AUC 0.5). 24.8 kg/m2 is taken as the best cut off value to predict GDM (Sn = 79.2; Sp = 29.2). Best cut off value for body weight appears as 60 kg (Sn = 79.2; Sp = 32.3) and the best cut off value for height is 150 cm (Sn = 80.0; Sp = 25.0). When the predictive variables are compared with each other, highest predictive ability was recorded by the body mass index (AUC = 0.632). Predictability of TFT and BSFT appeared significant. 27.0 cm can be considered as the most accurate cut off value of MAC (Sn = 80; Sp = 30). Best cut off values for BSFT and TSFT were 22 mm (Sn = 80; Sp = 60) and 10.5 mm (Sn = 83.3; Sp <span styl

Work process in Low-Cost Health Clinics from the perspective of physicians

O objetivo deste estudo foi compreender a perspectiva de médicos acerca do processo de trabalho em Clínicas Populares de Saúde. Para isso, realizamos uma pesquisa qualitativa na qual foram entrevistados oito jovens médicos especialistas que atuam nessas empresas em São Luís, Maranhão. Identificamos condições precarizadas de trabalho, mas com pouca resistência por parte dos médicos, considerando que essas empresas são encaradas como espaços de projeção no mercado de trabalho local. Devido às limitações do modelo assistencial do tipo queixa-conduta, os entrevistados acionam uma rede informal e os usuários das Clínicas Populares de Saúde são encaminhados para o Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS). Assim, o processo de trabalho do médico é desafiado por esse modelo assistencial fragmentado, o que faz borrar os limites nas interfaces público-privado na medida em que uma dupla porta de entrada para o SUS é naturalizada.

Predicting Smoking Prevalence in Japan Using Search Volumes in an Internet Search Engine: Infodemiology Study

Tobacco smoking is an important public health issue and a core indicator of public health policy worldwide. However, global pandemics and natural disasters have prevented surveys from being conducted. The purpose of this study was to predict smoking prevalence by prefecture and sex in Japan using Internet search trends. This study used the infodemiology approach. The outcome variable was smoking prevalence by prefecture, obtained from national surveys. The predictor variables were the search volumes on Yahoo! Japan Search. We collected the search volumes for queries related to terms from the thesaurus of the Japanese medical article database Ichu-shi. Predictor variables were converted to per capita values and standardized as z scores. For smoking prevalence, the values for 2016 and 2019 were used, and for search volume, the values for the April 1 to March 31 fiscal year (FY) 1 year prior to the survey (ie, FY 2015 and FY 2018) were used. Partial correlation coefficients, adjusted for data year, were calculated between smoking prevalence and search volume, and a regression analysis using a generalized linear mixed model with random effects was conducted for each prefecture. Several models were tested, including a model that included all search queries, a variable reduction method, and one that excluded cigarette product names. The best model was selected with the Akaike information criterion corrected (AICC) for small sample size and the Bayesian information criterion (BIC). We compared the predicted and actual smoking prevalence in 2016 and 2019 based on the best model and predicted the smoking prevalence in 2022. The partial correlation coefficients for men showed that 9 search queries had significant correlations with smoking prevalence, including cigarette (r=-0.417, P<.001), cigar in kanji (r=-0.412, P<.001), and cigar in katakana (r=-0.399, P<.001). For women, five search queries had significant correlations, including vape (r=0.335, P=.001), quitting smoking (r=0.288, P=.005), and cigar (r=0.286, P=.006). The models with all search queries were the best models for both AICC and BIC scores. Scatter plots of actual and estimated smoking prevalence in 2016 and 2019 confirmed a relatively high degree of agreement. The average estimated smoking prevalence in 2022 in the 47 prefectures for the total sample was 23.492% (95% CI 21.617%-25.367%), showing an increasing trend, with an average of 29.024% (95% CI 27.218%-30.830%) for men and 8.793% (95% CI 7.531%-10.054%) for women. This study suggests that the search volume of tobacco-related queries in internet search engines can predict smoking prevalence by prefecture and sex in Japan. These findings will enable the development of low-cost, timely, and crisis-resistant health indicators that will enable the evaluation of health measures and contribute to improved public health.

Planning and Implementing an Organizational Health Assessment in a Community Mental Health Setting.

The workforce is the essential driver behind mental health service provision and the most valuable asset to any community mental health organization. To build and retain a stable and healthy workforce, systematic recruitment and retention strategies are needed. An organizational health assessment is a valuable tool in developing targeted organizational interventions to create a positive work environment and retain an engaged workforce. Starting in 2017, a large community mental health organization in Southern California implemented such an assessment to drive actionable steps to improve employee experience and decrease turnover. This case study describes the development and implementation of a low-cost organizational health assessment through five phases: development of the assessment, data collection, analysis, metrics and data visualization, and dissemination of findings and development of interventions. Key lessons learned include the importance of utilizing the findings and achieving staff and leadership buy-in.

Family behavior theory-based intervention via mobile messaging to improve oral health of adolescents: study protocol for a cluster randomized controlled trial

BackgroundDue to some unique physical, social and psychological features in the adolescent population, adolescents can be a time of heightened caries activity and periodontal disease. Oral health-related behaviors can be modified to improve oral health status. The family networks and the built environment can promote or inhibit health behaviors. The aim of this study is to implement and evaluate a behavior theory-based, integrated family intervention via mobile messaging to improve oral health of adolescents.MethodsThis is a three-arm parallel-design cluster-randomized controlled trial. This trial will allocate 12 local secondary schools (clusters) in Hong Kong to three test or comparison groups with a ratio 1:1:1. The enrolled Form II to IV students (ages 12 to 15) will be eligible for participation. The intervention to three study groups will be (i) Health Belief Model (HBM)-based mobile messaging to the adolescents and their parents, which will consist of several blocks of HBM-based messages and reinforcement during 24 weeks; (ii) same HBM-based messaging to adolescents only; and (iii) delivering e-version of oral health education pamphlets to adolescents. The primary outcome will be caries increment 2 years post-intervention. Changes in oral health self-efficacy and behaviors, oral hygiene, and gingival status will be the secondary outcomes.DiscussionNo school dental care service is available to secondary school students in Hong Kong. This study will be the first to test a theory-driven and family-engaged preventive intervention among adolescents in Hong Kong. Findings will contribute to developing a low-cost, feasible, and efficient oral health preventive program for adolescents.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.govNCT05448664. Registered on 7 July 2022.

Health Monitoring of Conveyor Belt Using UHF RFID and Multi-Class Neural Networks

Conveyor belts in mining sites are prone to cracks, which leads to dramatic degradation of overall system performance and the breakdown of operation. Crack detection using radio frequency identification (RFID) sensing technology is recently proposed to provide robust and low-cost health monitoring systems for conveyor belts. The intelligent machine learning (ML) technique is one of the most promising solutions for crack detection and successful implementation within the IoT paradigm. This paper presents a conveyor belt structural health monitoring (SHM) model using ML and Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity. The model is extensively tested, and the classification is conducted based on simulated data obtained from an Ultra High Frequency (UHF) RFID sensor. Here, the sensor is laid on a belt, and the data are obtained at different crack orientations of vertical, horizontal, and diagonal cracks, for varying crack widths of 0.5 to 5 mm at 10 different locations on the sensor. The ML model is tested with different input features and training algorithms, and their performances are compared and analysed to identify the superior input feature and training algorithm. This method produces high accuracy in determining crack width, orientation, and location. The findings show that the proposed detection system based on ML modelling could detect cracks with 100% accuracy. The proposed system can also distinguish between vertical, horizontal, and diagonal cracks with an accuracy of 83.9%, and has a significant identification rate of 84.4% accuracy for detecting crack-width as narrow as 0.5 mm. Moreover, the model can predict the region of the crack with an accuracy of 95.5%. Overall, the results show that the proposed model is very robust and can perform SHM of conveyor belts with high accuracy for a range of parameters and classification scenarios. The method has huge industrial significance in coal mines.

AI-Based Low-Cost Real-Time Face Mask Detection and Health Status Monitoring System for COVID-19 Prevention

The outbreak of COVID-19 had brought a great challenge for the World Health Organization (WHO) in preventing the spreading of SARS-CoV-2. The Ministry of Health (MOH) of Malaysia introduced the MySejahtera mobile application for health monitoring and contact tracing. Wearing a face mask in public areas had been made compulsory by the Government. The overhead cost incurred in hiring the extra manpower to ensure all the visitors wear a face mask, check-in through MySejahtera and the status in MySejahtera is healthy before entering a premise. A low-cost solution is urgently needed to reduce the heavy overhead cost. An AI-Based Low-Cost Real-Time Face Mask Detection and Health Status Monitoring System (AFMHS) is proposed to perform real-time detection for the face mask and MySejahtera Check-In tickets by using artificial intelligence. MobileNetV2 was used for the detection and recognition of face and face masks. YOLOv3 was used for the detection of the region of interest for the MySejahtera Check-In ticket to locate the health and vaccination status of the visitor. Optical character recognition (OCR) is a technique that is used to detect the text captured in an image and encode the recognized text. OCR is implemented to recognize the text extracted from the ticket. Tesseract is used as the OCR engine in AFMHS. Raspberry-Pi-4B (Raspberry Pi Generation 4 Model B) with 4 GB RAM is used as the processing unit of AFMHS. The total cost of the AFMHS is only USD220. Extensive experimental tests were carried out to evaluate the performance of AFMHS. The optimum operation setup conditions are proposed to achieve 100% accuracy. The optimum operating distance for the face mask detector and MySejahtera Check-In ticket detector are 1.5m and 15cm respectively.

Алгоритм автоматичної ідентифікації пошкоджень з використанням недорогих систем моніторингу стану конструкцій

Алгоритм автоматичної ідентифікації пошкоджень з використанням недорогих систем моніторингу стану конструкцій

Resistant starch: A functional ingredient in dairy products

Resistant starch (RS) in recent times has gained a lot of interest in scientific research due to its numerous health benefits. It is also known as a prebiotic and a functional ingredient. There are five types of RS in which RS1 and RS2 are naturally available, and the remaining three are obtained from the modification of starch by physical (RS3), chemical, enzymatic (RS4), and addition of lipid (RS5). Incorporating the five types of RS as a functional ingredient in various food products has been done worldwide. In particular, the incorporation of RS in dairy products provides low-cost health products that are feasible for people all around the world. RS as a prebiotic combined with probiotics present in the dairy product produces synbiotics which is more beneficial than consuming RS via other food products. Combining prebiotics and probiotics has a healthier impact on the human body. The accumulation of data regarding the different types of RS incorporated in dairy products is given in this review. Practical applications To better serve today's consumers, researchers should look for low-cost, high-nutritional-value products. It can be fulfilled by the resistant starch incorporated in dairy products. Although starch and milk were widely available, they were largely underutilised. We can make a variety of healthy food products by modifying and combining these ingredients. The RS in dairy products acts as a stabiliser, a source of food for microorganisms, and a fat substitute. This review's goal is to provide knowledge on these topics.

Uncovering the Sweat Biofouling Components and Distributions in Electrochemical Sensors.

Interest is growing in the creation of wearable sweat sensors for continuous, low-cost, and noninvasive health diagnosis at the molecular level. The biofouling phenomenon leads to degradation of sweat sensors' performance over time, further limiting the successive monitoring of human health status. However, to date, the mechanism of sweat fouling is still unclear, with the inability to provide effective guidance on antifouling strategies. This study clarifies chemical compositions in sweat fouling and fouling distributions on the surface of sensors. Gold film electrodes were prepared on glass and poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) substrates and contaminated by human facial sweat (from eccrine sweat glands and apocrine sweat glands) and palm sweat (only from eccrine sweat glands). A scanning electron microscope (SEM), an optical microscope (OM), and an atomic force microscope (AFM) were employed to study the surface morphology of biofouling electrodes. The existence of sweat fouling was characterized by AFM adhesion force, a Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR), and X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS). FTIR along with XPS was adopted to analyze the biofouling components, and differential reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) was undertaken to observe the distribution of biofouling on the surface of the electrodes. As a result, we found that neither skin cell pieces nor recognized protein adsorption is the dominant source of biofouling, but the lipids in sweat form an inhomogeneous fouling layer on the electrode surface to reduce the electrochemical reactivity of sensors. This study provides deeper insights into sweat biofouling components and distributions and points out the right direction for resolving the problem of limited continuity in wearable sweat sensors.

Parent Survey Identifies Low-Cost Emotional and Educational Supports in NICU and Beyond.

Families face significant mental health challenges after preterm birth. However, there are few low-cost and sustainable services to help with mental health challenges. To understand suggestions for low-cost and sustainable mental health supports to help families. This was an internet-based survey made available to preterm families through the Canadian Premature Babies Foundation social media (Facebook private parents' group). Families reported that peer support, such as connecting with other parents and families who experience preterm birth, was most beneficial. Parents also reported ways to allow families to access the existing mental health services, such as providing child care options and improving advertisement of available resources. Our results can help implement beneficial low-cost and sustainable mental health supports across many contexts (eg, hospitals and community organization) both in-person and online.

Task sharing and stepped referral model for community mental health promotion in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC): insights from a feasibility study in India

BackgroundThis study is a low-cost community mental health task-sharing model driven by university students to strengthen the mental health workforce in poor resource settings. This article presents the feasibility of a stepped referral model using the community health workforce and university students. The primary feasibility objective is to detect and refer people with mental illness from the community using a task-sharing approach.MethodsWe tested the model using a cross-sectional, one-phase door-knock survey in three geographically defined locations in Kerala, India, between May and July 2019. Students surveyed 549 residents above 18 years of age who consented to participate in the study to detect depressive symptoms and suicidality. The feasibility of the current model was evaluated based on four criteria: (a) identification and deployment of untapped human resources, (b) coordination of community health resources, (c) the acceptability of stepped referral pathways, and (d) identification of implementation challenges.ResultsThe mean age of the participants was 38.8, and more than 62% of the respondents were women. The results showed that 11.29%, 8.38%, and 4.91% of people reported mild, moderate, and severe levels of depression, respectively, and suicidal thoughts were found in 6.9% and suicidal ideation in 1.8%. The odds of depression were higher among females compared to males (OR: 1.64 (0.75–2.52), poor people (OR: 2.01 (1.14–2.88), and people with chronic illnesses (OR: 2.03 (1.24–2.81). The agreement of the findings with professional-administered research validated the strategy’s efficiency. Twenty-seven patients with severe/extreme degrees of depression were sent for high-intensity interventions led by the mental health team, whereas 135 individuals with mild and above depression were referred for low-intensity interventions.ConclusionsThe newly recruited mental health workforce-driven screenings were acceptable and effective in detecting mental illness in the community population. We tested the care coordination systems and processes in creating referral pathways for the detected patients. Further, task-sharing stepped referral model will be tested in five panchayats (the lowest tier of local self-government) before replicating the model across India through Unnat Bharat Abhiyan (UBA) scheme.

One Health – A holistic solution for sustainable management of globalization-driven public health challenges

Globalization is an inevitable and extremely complex phenomenon that involves transnational integration of culture, economy, environment, politics, and other social interest. Globally, we are witnessing multitude changes such as a rapid population growth, urbanization, international trade and commerce, agricultural intensification, and encroachment into the natural ecosystem. Further mismatching of food demand and supply, growth disparities, increasing food prices, and over utilization of natural resources are among the challenges to the economic status of a nation and its health sector. The health impacts of globalization can be both positive and negative; of course, its impacts vary based on factors such as geographical location, gender, age, literacy, and socioeconomic status. Globalization has played pivotal role in health improvements via dissemination of new medical knowledge, low-cost health technologies, fast transactions of medical supply and improvement of human rights. Thus it has shown potential positive impacts by minimizing the gaps in health inequalities between rich and poor people in the global South and North and improved the idea of healthcare for all. On the other hand, there are also shortcomings of globalization to global health, such as the spread of infectious diseases due to rapid mobility, which is emerging as the greatest threat to all. The interconnectedness of globalization and One Health is complex. Whereas, globalization is one of the main challenges to ensure global health security. One Health is a remedy to manage the negative health consequences of globalization, especially in least developed world. It is undeniable that the connection between humans, animals, and the environment calls for the attention of multi-sectorial institutes to collaborate to closely monitor and reduce the risks and consequences on health and wellbeing. One Health approach is increasingly recognized and streamlined into national and international plans and strategies for effective management of zoonotic diseases, food safety, antimicrobial resistance, and climate change. Human practices such as, changes in land use and how food is produced are driving ecological and evolutionary conditions that facilitate disease spillover events and contribute to antimicrobial resistance. These changes are occurring rapidly on a large scale, both locally and globally. The pursuit of understanding human, veterinary and environmental health issues separately leads to an incomplete understanding of disease dynamics and, therefore, missed synergy for a joint mitigation of the problems. One Health actions support the primary prevention of such problems, enabling more timely and effective containment and response to public health threats at the human-animal-environment interface. In short, systematic and sustained One Health approach becomes more important than ever in order to promote and ensure health security and avert the negative impacts of globalization. Therefore, there is a need to focus on the creation of socially and environmentally sustainable forms of globalization that provide the greatest benefits and least costs, shared more equitably than the status queue.

A Low-Cost Online Health Assessment System for Oil-Immersed Service Transformers Using Real-Time Grid Energy Monitoring

In this paper, we present a low-cost health assessment system for oil-immersed service transformers using a monitoring device to measure energy in real time. By assessing the important level of transformer components, three indicators, top oil temperature, vibration, and transformer load, were selected as main indicators to investigate the service transformer’s condition. An evaluation system using Fuzzy logic method is also presented in the paper to support monitor transformer health without adding the extra cost of installing expensive sensors. Different testing scenarios with different case studies were carried out on a simulated 50 kVA oil-immersed service transformer to express the feasibility and effectiveness of this low-cost, fast response health assessment system.

Low-Cost Wireless Structural Health Monitoring of Bridges.

Nowadays, low-cost accelerometers are getting more attention from civil engineers to make Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) applications affordable and applicable to a broader range of structures. The present accelerometers based on Arduino or Raspberry Pi technologies in the literature share some of the following drawbacks: (1) high Noise Density (ND), (2) low sampling frequency, (3) not having the Internet’s timestamp with microsecond resolution, (4) not being used in experimental eigenfrequency analysis of a flexible and a less-flexible bridge, and (5) synchronization issues. To solve these problems, a new low-cost triaxial accelerometer based on Arduino technology is presented in this work (Low-cost Adaptable Reliable Accelerometer—LARA). Laboratory test results show that LARA has a ND of 51 µg/√Hz, and a frequency sampling speed of 333 Hz. In addition, LARA has been applied to the eigenfrequency analysis of a short-span footbridge and its results are compared with those of a high-precision commercial sensor.

Performance Evaluation Fuzzy Logic Control on Low-Cost Medical Equipment Sterilizer

The equipment is not sterile when the health equipment is used repeatedly. Thus, it is at risk of infection. Data published by WHO reveals that one out of every ten hospital patients gets an infection. In developed countries, the number of infected hospital patients reaches 30%, while in developing countries it is at least 2-3 higher. One way to reduce the occurrence of infection is to sterilize medical equipment through a dry heat sterilization process at 1700 C for 60 minutes. The high price of sterilizers means that many health centers and clinics do not have this equipment. The aim of this study was to design a low-cost dry heat type health equipment sterilizer using fuzzy logic as a controller and evaluate the performance of the controller. Regarding to the research result, it indicated that the controller performance evaluation was very good with the highest overshoot value of 1.1%, the steady state error value was 1.1%, and the fastest rise time was 240 seconds.

To conquer cervical and breast cancer in little charted waters: Synergistic and integrated approaches to identify early breast and cervical cancer in Cameroon.

e17510 Background: Across Africa, several governments have put in place policies to promote prevention of cervical and breast cancers. (Njunguna 2020, Njiru 2013, WHO 2017) These include routine screening at consultations, sensitization programs, HPV vaccination programs, and creation of cancer treatment centers. However there still exists a policy to practice gap and clinicians do not routinely screen for cancers and sensitization messages are not reaching those who need it most. Therefore, on the one hand the clinicians are not supplying these services and the women who need the services are not demanding for them. Methods: We used existing guidance for cervical and breast cancer screening and treatment including local policies and ASCO guidelines. We screened 64 women in the Ntasen and Ntanka communities of Cameroon. We then used the results to create sensitization and education programmes for community members using culturally relevant approach of storytelling. Results: We reported 11 out of 64 positive cervical conditions (VIA pos = 8; VILI pos = 10; both VIA/VILI pos = 7) making a 17.2% prevalence. The median age for VIA/VILI positive was 35.5 years (Range 21-60 years). 3 out of 11 (27.3%) were HIV positive. We reported 4 out of 64 positive breast conditions (BIRADS 2 (2); BIRADS 3 (1); BIRADS 4 (1)). We reported 12 out of 64 STIs (gonorrhea (4); Syphilis (2); HPV (6)). Treatment could not be initiated for breast and cervical conditions due to lack of health technologies needed. Patients were therefore referred for treatment. All participants with gonorrhea and syphilis were immediately initiated treatment. Conclusions: Considering the high burden of disease from cervical and breast cancer in Cameroon, Africa, and LMIC, exploring cost effective approaches for screening like VIA/VILI will be helpful in reducing disease burden. However, access to low-cost health technologies to provide treatment for positive cases, use of culturally relevant approaches to sensitize communities to uptake these health technologies, inclusion of patient representatives in decision making, and capacity building for clinicians and community health workers for diagnosis and treatment are needed to complete the recipe for conquering cancers in LMIC. A combined approach of routinely screening for breast, cervical, and STIs is useful for integrating a common cause for these conditions.