City Cancer Challenge
City project

Early Cancer Diagnosis

Public awareness and primary healthcare training to improve cancer diagnostics.
City
Tbilisi, Georgia
Project lead
Tamar Rukhadze
Areas of action

The challenge

  • Women with cancer symptoms often experience delays in recognition and referral at the primary healthcare level. 
  • Limited awareness of early cancer warning signs persists among both the public and primary healthcare providers. 
  • Primary healthcare workers frequently lack training on early cancer signs and symptoms and appropriate referral pathways for early diagnosis. 
  • Patient organisations often have limited capacity to engage in evidence-driven advocacy for early cancer diagnosis. 
  • Gender-specific barriers affecting women’s access to timely cancer diagnosis remain insufficiently documented and addressed. 
  • These challenges contribute to late-stage diagnosis and poorer outcomes for women. 

The goal

  • To improve awareness through advocacy campaigns on early cancer signs and symptoms. 
  • To enhance primary healthcare capacity through structured training programmes. 
  • To contribute to earlier cancer diagnosis and improved patient outcomes.

The How

  • Strengthening early diagnosis systems: applying the World Health Organization Global Breast Cancer Initiative (GBCI) early diagnosis framework, targeting 60% of invasive breast cancers at Stage I or II. 
  • Building primary healthcare capacity: implementing structured training and e-learning programmes for primary healthcare clinicians and nurses on early recognition of suspected cancer cases. 
  • Raising public awareness: delivering advocacy and awareness campaigns focused on early warning signs and timely care-seeking. 
  • Empowering patient organisations: providing cancer advocacy training to strengthen evidence-based, community-led engagement on early cancer diagnostics. 
  • Advancing gender equity: conducting research to identify gender-specific barriers and facilitators in cancer care access. 
  • Cross-city implementation: implementing the project across multiple cities as part of C/Can’s Cities Taking Action for Gender Equity in Cancer Care (2024-2030) initiative.

Outputs

  • Implementation of the e-learning course for primary healthcare clinicians and nurses to improve early recognition of cancer signs and symptoms to facilitate “recognise and referral” processes. 
  • Definition and implementation of cancer care awareness training on early warning signs and symptoms for patient organisations. 
  • Research project conducted to understand barriers and facilitators that women, as both patients and providers, experience in interacting with cancer.

Team

Project Lead
Tamar Rukhadze, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Professor at Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University: Head of Clinical Oncology Department of Todua Medical Centre.
Project Team
Tamar Esakia, Clinical oncologist, Todua Clinic Vera
Irine Karosanidze, Director of Georgia Family Medicine Association
Anna Mazanishvili, President of Europa Donna
Ekaterine Sanikidze, Director of Patient Union
Nia Sharikadze, Clinical oncologist, Mardaleishvili Medical Center
Ana Khmaladze, Oncology nurse, Todua Medical Center
Givi Javashvili, Head of Primary Healthcare Doctors Association
Nana Mebonia, Head of the Chronic Diseases and injuries Division, National Center for Disease Control and Public Health (NCDC)
Eter Kiguradze, Director of National Screening Center

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