Improving Breast Health Literacy Through an Innovative Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign Using the Know Your Lemons (KYL) Materials in Malaysia

Background: Breast cancer (BC) is the most common cancer in Malaysia but has the worst survival in the Asia Pacific region. Main drivers identified in previous research include late-stage disease at presentation, poor adherence to treatment and sociocultural barriers. Factors affecting late presentations include lack of awareness on basic symptoms of BC and poor access to early detection. Although BC awareness campaigns have been done, Hadi et al., showed low BC awareness among university students in Malaysia. This is an evaluation of the “Show You Care, Be Aware” campaign that was done in University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur in October 2017. The campaign was carried out using KYL materials through use of posters, awareness booths and public forums. The materials contain information on the normal breast, 12 symptoms of BC, information on breast self examination (BSE), screening and diagnostic (detection) pathways in Malay and English language. Aim: To evaluate the campaign effect on breast health literacy. ...