REGIONAL INITIATIVES
CANCER CONTROL 2014 143
INCTR (International Network for Cancer Treatment and
Research) led by Dr Ian Magrath (who serves on the OERC
Executive Committee) and is based in Brussels. The
OERC-India plenary presentations at ICC by Drs Lessin and
Pillai, in fact, opened with a 2-minute video by Dr Ian Magrath
outlining the mission and goals of INCTR and its relationship
to OERC. The plan for OERC-India and its objectives have
been previously described in detail in INCTR's annual
publication, Cancer Control 2013.
Thus, oercindia.merlot.org was effectively launched at the
ICC, with Dr Badwe of Mumbai, Medical Director of Tata
Memorial Hospital, assuming the position of Editor in Chief
and appointing editors for medical, surgical and radiation
oncology, as well as oncology nursing and prevention and
screening from the TMC faculty. Dr Rajagopal of Kerala will
serve as Editor for palliative care and Amb Balakrishnan,
Editor for patient advocacy and public education.
OERC-India is an open and free metadata repository of high
quality educational materials selected by and for Indian
cancer health care providers, based on the assessment of
educational needs as determined by Indian oncology
educators and thought leaders. As with the main OERC site
(oerc.merlot.org), OERC India will continue to be hosted and
supported by the professional education and technical staff at
MERLOT and the California State University system. Indian
oncologists and nurses at the ICC greeted the OERC-India
launch with great enthusiasm and confirmed their collective
intention to undertake the ongoing needs assessment,
contribute educational materials and curricula to the site and
to actively utilize the educational modules for the preparation
of teaching programmes. Meetings with leading patient
advocacy and public education leaders confirmed our
perception that the "culture of cancer" in India was in need of
an extensive long-range public education campaign to
"demystify" cancer and its treatment and to move the Indian
"war on cancer" into the public domain with education,
transparency and advocacy.
Oncology nursing
The ICC oncology nursing workshop was well received by
oncology nurses practising in various public and private
settings. This was especially evident in the large numbers who
attended the one day workshop session that focused on
research, safe chemotherapy administration, psychosocial
impact, communication, palliative and preventive care. It was
clear that the establishment of oncology nursing as a specialty
had begun in India and several curricula had been developed at
regional centres. Discussions and questions during the ICC
presentations focused on nurses' working environment, the
lack of resources in most clinical settings as well as limited
resources for advancing educational levels or preparation for
the role of oncology nursing from basic nursing education
post-graduation. Most oncology nurses in India graduate with
a basic nursing education and need advanced education on
oncology nursing content, for example, chemotherapy
pharmacology and administration, symptom and side effect
management and palliative care. Some cancer institutions
provide oncology educational modules for newly hired nurses,
whereas there are a few institutions that provide a one-year
programme for advanced oncology nursing education.
This is an opportunity for OERC-India to provide free open
education learning modules, curricula and seminars, nurse
educators and administrators at these institutions can
download and use. This notion was received well by nursing
college professors and administrators. A need to follow-up on
this first visit is due and is planned for the near future. Indian
oncology nurses who attended the workshop were keen on
leaving their contact information with Professors Savitri
Singh-Carlson and Jeanne Sewell as part of the demographic
data collection, so that they could be contacted later requiring
educational needs. This information will be used as a follow-up
to assess the Indian nurses' needs before developing any
specific curriculum.
Indian oncopolitics
It was also clear to the OERC team that a strong commitment
from government to a "war against cancer" was in its early
stages, with a need to mount a major national anticancer
public education campaign. This was validated in the ICC
public cancer advocacy sessions led by Amb Balakrishnan and
visits by the OERC team with government officials and at
private institutions. The economic impact of cancer as a
leading cause of morbidity, mortality and lost productivity for
a population of 1.4 billion people was well understood.
However, mechanisms to stem this suffering and economic
loss were in early stages of development.
The OERC team repeatedly emphasized at ICC sessions
From its inception, OERC has been
closely affiliated with INCTR
(International Network for Cancer
Treatment and Research) led by Dr
Ian Magrath (who serves on the
OERC Executive Committee) and is
based in Brussels