Cultural Analysis 1

Cultural Analysis
Cultural Analysis 2

Introduction

Breast cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer death for women worldwide. According to

the World Health Organization (WHO) cancer report, an estimate of 14 million new cases and

9.6 million deaths are related to cancer worldwide. (World Health Organization, n.d.) With

690,000 of the new cases being diagnosed annually in the developed countries and 92,000 of it

coming from Africa. (World Health Organization, n.d.) Since Breast cancer has been identified

as one of the most public health problem in most countries as stated by WHO, my suggestion is

to bring in a mammography van service to help for breast cancer screening. The country chosen

for this service is Nigeria because per the World Life Expectancy, Nigeria is ranked in the top 10

country being number 7, with the most breast cancer death rate. (World Health Rankings, n.d.)

In sub-Saharan Africa, one in four people who are diagnosed with cancer has breast cancer and is

responsible for one of the five people cancer deaths. (Dodo, 2015)

Service Proposed

Early detection is essential to beating breast cancer, but having the time is one of the reasons

women put off the lifesaving screening. The purpose of a mammography van is because it is

mobile and allows for hospital and healthcare systems to reach patients it may not otherwise be

able to attract and used to address patient health care disparities. (Guse, 2017) A benefit of the

having a mobile mammography reduce many of the obstacles that breast cancer screenings faces

for the underserved women. (Guse, 2017) This service can also provide screening mammograms

at no cost or low cost to women in their neighborhoods, which helps eliminate the cost and
Cultural Analysis 3

transportation barriers. With this service it is important to notes that it can save lives with early

diagnoses and prevention for breast cancer in women.

Country Demographic

Known as one of the biggest country in Africa, with a population of approximately 199,588,724

million people per the World-O-Meters (WorldOMeters, n.d.) Nigeria is home to 250 ethnic

tribes and is also one of the most densely populated country in Africa. (Countries and their

Cultures, n.d.) The most dominant ethnic groups are the Hauga, Yoruba, and Igbo which

constitutes a majority of the population. (Countries and their Cultures, n.d.) Although it has a

huge population it continues to grow at about 2.6 percent each year, their country consist of 51.4

percent of the population is male and the other 49.34 percent are female. Although English is the

official language and is the most widely spoken language, Nigeria also have over 520 languages

and over 800 dialects spoken making it no doubt that a multi-ethnic Nation. (Trading Economics,

n.d.) (Ajayi, Hamilton Millard Kirk-Greene, Kenrick Udo, & Falola, 2019)

Nigeria is a welcoming country to foreigners, they tend to be more relaxed about physical

contact which is considered perfectly normal, although it is different in the Northern part of the

country particularly in the Muslim areas. (Kwintessential, n.d.)

The country may not be on people’s top list of destination but the country has an abundant

wealth of cultural treasures, its burgeoning oil, banking and construction industries are

increasing. (Kwintessential, n.d.) Communities are welcoming, it can be said that in some

communities, everyone respect one another which is a positive thing, they are highly sociable

and thriving. (Kwintessential, n.d.)

Cultural Analysis 4

Regional Loyalty

In 1960, when Nigerian won political independence from Great Britain they adopted its

parliamentary form politics, but it was marked unstable due to power grabbing and corruption.

(Eames, 1985) During this period, Nigeria witnessed four coups and a very bad civil war, finally

until 1979 when the Nigeria military leaders proclaims that they would adopt the American-style

constitutional democracy. (Eames, 1985) Although Nigeria adopted this, the political part could

never functioned due to the ethnic strife’s and unresolved political issues. (Eames, 1985)

Nevertheless, Nigeria is divided into three regions. The Niger-Benue Rives divides the country

which marks the boundaries of the three major ethnic groups, with the Hausa in the north, the

Yoruba in the southwest, and the Igbo in the southeast. (Countries and their Cultures, n.d.)

Relationship – Family & Community

The country views on families is very important. Fueled by strong societal traditional norms

Nigeria family’s holds strong family bond as an important part of their tradition. Unlike the

Westerner worlds, Nigeria children’s are hold responsible to provide support for their parents in

their old age. Family relationships are mostly guided by strict system of ‘seniority’ and male

tended egoistic values. (Countries and their Cultures, n.d.) There is a huge emphasis on the male

members of a household because they will hold both the family inheritance and extension of

family lineage. (Lwahas, 2017)

Often time ethnic clashes in one part of the country can set off a chain of reprisal riots and

attacks in other parts of the country. All the major ethnic groups have formed militias to protect
Cultural Analysis 5

their own interests and perpetrate violence on other groups. (NewsHour, 2007) The Nigerian

government, throughout the year has worked out tentative power sharing arraignment among the

ethnic groups so there are no tension. They help ensure that the many ethnic groups have a say in

how the country’s natural resource wealth should be spent. But the tensions in how to balance

the competing interest in society is still a challenge that Nigeria government faces. (NewsHour,

2007)

Gender Roles

Nigeria is a patriarchal society, where men are considered dominant over women in virtually all

areas. (Countries and their Cultures, n.d.) Women still have fewer legal rights than men, such as

wives are often seen as little more than possessions and are subject to the rule of their husbands.

(Countries and their Cultures, n.d.) However, women have influences in some areas, for example

in some ethnic groups, mothers and sisters have great say in the lives of their sons and brothers

due to their blood relationship which allows them to have certain leeway and influence that a

wife may not have. (Countries and their Cultures, n.d.)

Religion

Although Nigeria may be a multi-ethnic nation, it is estimated that 50 percent of Nigerians are

Muslim, 40 percent are Christian, and 10 percent are various indigenous religions. (Countries

and their Cultures, n.d.) In Nigeria, Muslim can be found in the all part of the country while

Christianity is prominently found in the south due to missionaries. The relationships between

Muslims and Christians are tense in many areas. (Countries and their Cultures, n.d.)
Cultural Analysis 6

Religion – Women health barriers

Religious beliefs plays a part for women in getting adequate health care because there is a

shortage of trained female healthcare workers and in various cultures and religions, particularly

Islam and Christianity, a woman’s body is considered sacred and should only be seen or touched

by her significant/spouse. (Dodo, 2015) Also due to the fear of having positive test results, the

accusations that can be brought upon themselves showing that they may unfaithful to their

husbands would abandon them because of their poor health. (Dodo, 2015) While others beliefs

that getting cancer is a form of punishment from God and prayer is the only “cure” (Dodo, 2015)

In addition to this, the availability of traditional medicine also discourages access and

acceptability of cancer screening. (Dodo, 2015) Another factor to this is because many Nigerian

people do not trust Western-style medicine and prefers to use the traditional ways. (Countries

and their Cultures, n.d.)

Country – HealthCare

In the African tradition, people only visit hospitals when they have disease symptoms, mainly for

rural areas. Regular health check-ups are very uncommon. (Dodo, 2015) Most of the major

healthcare institutes are located in major cities and majority of Nigerian will have to travel far to

get to the healthcare institute which is an inconvenience to them. A major problem that Nigeria

faces is their quality of healthcare institutions, which is generally considered poor. There’s a

shortage of medical supplies and blood supplies, which is also considered to not be safe.

Hygienic conditions are also a problematic that their healthcare institution faces. (Internations,

n.d.) It is estimated that there are four doctors for every 10,000 inhabitants and usually the highly
Cultural Analysis 7

trained experts in the country usually leaves the country to pursue their professions in a better

infrastructure or to have better wages. (Internations, n.d.) This is a result of poor coordination

which results in a poorly developed healthcare system, although the government has made some

policy there is little impact due to poor public health management. (Welcome, 2011)

Conclusion

Healthcare is important and getting quality healthcare is just as important. By having a mobile

mammography van to help with the transportation barriers that most women faces will help

decrease that barrier. It will allow women to get the preventative breast cancer screening they

need. There is much work needed to promote and emphasis cultural misconceptions and

practices should be addressed appropriately, information about western and breast cancer

information should be provided. But most important with this service it is important to note that

it can save lives with early diagnoses and prevention for breast cancer in women.
Cultural Analysis 8

References

Ajayi, J., Hamilton Millard Kirk-Greene, A., Kenrick Udo, R., & Falola, T. O. (2019, March 14).

Nigeria. Retrieved from Encyclopædia Britannica :

https://www.britannica.com/place/Nigeria/Languages

Countries and their Cultures. (n.d.). Nigeria. Retrieved from Countries and their Cultures:

https://www.everyculture.com/Ma-Ni/Nigeria.html

Dodo, A. M. (2015, November 11). What's Stopping Nigerian Women from being Screened for

Cancer? Retrieved from The Conversation: http://theconversation.com/whats-stopping-

nigerian-women-from-being-screened-for-cancer-49995

Eames, E. A. (1985, September). Regional Rivalry, Party Politics, and Ethnic Identity in Nigeria

- 1979-1983. Retrieved from Cultural Survival:

https://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/regional-rivalry-

party-politics-and-ethnic-identity

Guse, L. (2017, November 29). 5 Benefits of Mobile Mammography: Saving Lives and

Expanding Markets. Retrieved from LifeLineMobile:

http://info.lifelinemobile.com/blog/5-benefits-of-mobile-mammography-saving-lives-

expanding-markets

Internations. (n.d.). Healthcare in Nigeria. Retrieved from Internations - Connecting Global

Minds: https://www.internations.org/nigeria-expats/guide/moving-to-nigeria-

15540/healthcare-in-nigeria-3

Kwintessential. (n.d.). A guide to Nigeria – etiquette, customs, clothing and more…. Retrieved

from Kwintessential: https://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/guide-to-nigeria-

etiquette-customs-culture-business
Cultural Analysis 9

Lwahas, S. (2017, April 3). Understanding Gender Roles in Northern Nigeria. CEC Journal:

Issue 3(3). Retrieved from CEC Journal: Issue 3: http://scalar.usc.edu/works/cec-journal-

issue-3/understanding-gender-roles

NewsHour, P. (2007, April 5). Ethinicity in Nigeria. Retrieved from PBS NewsHour:

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/africa-jan-june07-ethnic_04-05

Trading Economics. (n.d.). Nigeria - Population. Retrieved from Trading Economics:

https://tradingeconomics.com/nigeria/population-female-percent-of-total-wb-data.html

Welcome, M. O. (2011, October-December). The Nigerian health care system: Need for

integrating adequate medical intelligence and surveillance systems. Journal of pharmacy

& bioallied sciences, 470-478. doi:10.4103/0975-7406.90100

World Health Organization. (n.d.). Cancer. Retrieved from World Health Organization:

https://www.who.int/cancer/en/

World Health Rankings. (n.d.). Breast Cancer (Femaile). Retrieved from World Health

Rankings: https://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/cause-of-death/breast-cancer/by-

country/

WorldOMeters. (n.d.). Nigeria Population. Retrieved from World-O-Meters:

http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/nigeria-population/