LATEST news on the unique sunflower SMS service which is used to remind women to go for their cancer check-ups will be presented by the doctor associated with the campaign in Paphos next week.
Dr Vasilios Tanos will present the latest statistics relating to the ongoing project at Palia Electriki-the old electricity station-in Paphos on March 23 at 3pm.
Campaign organisers aim to get 10,000 women signed up to the service, which operates as a two-way reminder service. On a regular basis, subscribers will be sent an SMS message to remind them to go for a mammogram and PAP test. They will then be able to respond to this message. This unique service is free, and subscribers so far have reached about 6,000 but still short of the sunflowers goal of 10,000 women.
“We are currently waiting for the latest statistics which will show the results so far,” said Tanos. “How many women responded to our alerts, how many showed an interest, took the tests and how many said they were not interested.”
The Nicosia-based gynaecologist and obstetrician says he first came up with the idea of an SMS alert system more than nine years ago.
Tanos said that when Paphos-based breast cancer awareness campaigners, Gina Ghillyer and Louise Van Rooij were preparing for their attempt to create the longest bra chain in the world to raise awareness of the disease, they approached him for advice.
“They wanted to do something to keep the awareness levels of breast cancer raised after the successful Guinness Book of Records attempt, and so I spoke to them about the idea of the two way SMS service.” Tanos said the women found the matter interesting and they wanted to try to implement the idea as a pilot scheme in Cyprus.
He said that for the first five years of the project’s implementation, the response rate of women to the system will be evaluated. In the future, the database could be used to remind people for their PSA (Prostatic Specific Antigen) and colonoscopy tests as measures for prevention and early diagnosis of prostate and colon cancer, he said.
“We have close to 6,000 women signed up to the service already and our goal is to encourage 10,000,” he said. “If we have this, we will have a strong base to apply for an EU grant for the project.”
According to Sunflower, around three hundred new cases of breast and ovarian cancer are diagnosed each year in Cyprus.
Tanos said “only time will tell” if women find the service interesting “and more importantly” whether it can help save lives. The service is free and Cyprus telephone service provider, CYTA, is backing the scheme.
