Abstract 82: The Language of Cancer Communication in Africa
Authors: Simba Hannah , Onwuka Justina , Chimera Bernadette , Saleh Yahya Mahamat , Oyinje Felix , Odongo Grace Akinyi , Mutebi Miriam , Addissie Adamu , Prah Efua , Aglago Elom , Schuz Joachim , McCormack Valerie , Galukande Moses 
Published: June 2023

Purpose: Communication is an essential aspect of cancer care and awareness but has been largely understudied in the African setting. There is no documentation, to our knowledge, of the spoken language used to communicate cancer terms in African languages. These languages are characterized by immense linguistic and ethno-cultural diversity and may not have any official term for ‘cancer’. Instead, the communicated language may have nuances and connotations which need to be understood.

Methods: We conducted a survey on “The Language of Cancer Communication in Africa”. The aim was to gather information on how the medical language of cancer and its treatment is communicated to patients and by the community in African languages, and what these communication terms mean. Using an online survey administered in the English and French, a list of 16 cancer terms used in diagnosis and treatment (such as ‘cancer’, ‘biopsy’, ‘radiotherapy’, ‘chemotherapy’) were provided to participants who were asked to provide these terms in their local language (if it exists) followed by a direct translation of the meaning of the term into English (if they know). Participants were also allowed to provide any additional information or comments regarding the term to allow for documentation of nuances in the form of idioms, metaphors, or euphemisms. Analysis included descriptive and summary statistics on the variables collected as well as thematic analysis.

Results: We present here examples of results from Zimbabwe and Uganda for the term ‘cancer’. The Shona (Zimbabwe) word is “gomarara” which means a parasitic plant. One of the explanations from the participants was that “This is a plant that grows on top of another plant, in a parasitic way, usually killing or disabling the plant.” In Uganda, the Luganda word for cancer is “kokolo” which means “Once it has come, no retreat, the disease will eat you until death”.

Conclusion: The survey is still ongoing and will highlight the existence or nonexistence of cancer terms as well as the nature of cancer terminology in African languages and how it may contribute to fear, disparities for patients, and pose communication difficulties for Health Professionals. We envision that information collected from this survey will highlight the state of cancer communication in Africa and serve as platform for future in-depth work on the topic given the multiplicities of languages and cultures across the Continent.

Citation Format: Hannah Simba, Justina Onwuka, Bernadette Chimera, Yahya Mahamat Saleh, Felix Oyinje, Grace Akinyi Odongo, Miriam Mutebi, Adamu Addissie, Efua Prah, Elom Aglago, Joachim Schuz, Valerie McCormack, Moses Galukande. The Language of Cancer Communication in Africa [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 11th Annual Symposium on Global Cancer Research; Closing the Research-to-Implementation Gap; 2023 Apr 4-6. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2023;32(6_Suppl):Abstract nr 82.