Award for Presentation of VBHC Breast Cancer Study Received for Our Project Team in Türkiye
Members of the team in Türkiye implementing the UNITAR Value Based Health Care project on Breast Cancer had the opportunity to present their preliminary study results at the Turkish Surgical Investigation Congress in Ankara, Türkiye in mid-December 2023. We are pleased to announce that Dr. Güldeniz Karadeniz Çakmak and her team were awarded the second prize for best oral presentation: ‘The etiological causes of diagnostic and treatment delay in locally advanced Breast Cancer – A nationwide survey trial.’
Dr. Çakmak, from the Zonguldak Bulent Ecevit University’s School of Medicine, is a Project Lead for the Value-Based Healthcare (VBHC) Programme in Türkiye. She and her team aim to identify the sources of delays in diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. With over 500 participants attending the conference, this occasion proved to be a fruitful opportunity to communicate with the Turkish medical community on the VBHC programme and its impact.
By December, the team had surveyed 532 patients with locally advanced breast cancer across 37 health centres and 7 regions of Türkiye.
Closing ceremony of the Turkish Surgical Investigation Congress in Ankara, Türkiye.
Results uncover reasons for diagnostic and treatment delays
Results show that about half of breast cancer patients surveyed did not know how to conduct a breast self-examination. Furthermore, 17% of patients reported lack of awareness and 16% reported fear of death as contributing factors towards their delay in seeking medical consultation.
Moreover, inability to schedule an appointment, perceived lack of time in the workday, economic reasons, and fear of losing the breast were all cited as additional factors resulting in delays in diagnosis. The leading factor associated with delays in post-surgical chemotherapy and radiotherapy was reluctance related to potential treatment side effects.
In 2024, Dr. Çakmak and her team will continue data collection to inform the development of pilot projects aimed at reducing delays in diagnosis and treatment and improving health outcomes for patients with breast cancer.
The VBHC Programme was established as a collaboration between UNITAR, Global Surgery Foundation, and Takeda. It envisions improved health outcomes for patients through the implementation of the value-based healthcare approach.