Associação Mulheres de Peito : a luta pelo tratamento oncológico em Sergipe

Abstract

The present study analyzes the struggle of women with cancer in the state of Sergipe who participate in the Association of Women of Chest / SE (AMP). In order to do so, a brief rescue was made of the formation process of the Association; the characterization of the members; identified the main demands and difficulties presented and their forms of coping; the perspectives of action and struggle. It is an exploratory research, of the qualitative-quantitative type and that was referenced in the historical-dialectical materialist method. Bibliographical, documentary and empirical research was used. The instrument of data collection was the semistructured interview, carried out with the components of said Association. The content analysis served to discuss the results, especially the testimonials obtained. The results of the study reveal that the Association has played an important role as a representative body of women with cancer in Sergipe, in the struggle for the improvement of services offered by public agencies, claiming and denouncing the various situations that hinder or prevent the beginning and continuity of the treatment, for example: lack of professionals and drugs; periodic breakdown of equipment, which directly reflects on the radiotherapy service; delay for the start of care, before the huge queues for examinations and surgeries. In addition, the Association has been support for many women facing different financial and psychological situations, related, among others, to unemployment, rejection of partners and insecurity regarding treatment and recovery.