title: [First year results of "APAAC infos services"].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In Ivory Coast, the APAAC association "Let us help persons living with cancer or affected by cancer", in French "Aidons les Personnes Atteintes ou Affectées par le Cancer" (APAAC), set up the first ivorian call center to support persons living with or affected by cancer and to inform population about cancer.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To show the feasibility of such a service in a developing country and to present the first results.
  
  
  METHODS
  This helpline is, since January 28th, 2010, directly accessible to the population by a fixed phone number. The population can, with a local cost call, contact a specialists team (psychologist, adviser in help relation or doctor), in total confidentiality, every Thursday from 3 pm till 5 pm. Outside Thursdays, informations about cancer are available on vocal server 24 hours a day and seven days a week. Callers are welcomed by a message inviting them either to listen to a recorded message about cancer or about APAAC association or finally to speak to a specialist online. Retrospective study based on the statistics of the call center. Because of a problem arisen on the statistics software, our results carry only over the period from August to December, 2010.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We had, during this period, 462 calls among which 23 in August, 58 in September, 67 in October, 230 in November and 84 in December. Reasons of the increasing of the figures are justify by the poster campaign in September and the communication around the service on television program in November. On these 462 calls, we had 35 real communications among whom 10 calls interrupted. The reason was the lack of call credit. The average of the call time was of 20 minutes for the conversations with the specialists. Three hundred and forty-three persons stopped to the welcome message, 341 (9%) listen information on the cancer, 27 (6%) listen information about the association. Sixteen persons wished to speak to specialists but were not regrettably able to make it because having called up except the hours of presence. Three hundred and fifty-five calls took place the working days. The most sought time slots were the ones of 7 am to 6 pm.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Those results raises questions about the necessity to create and to continue this kind of telephone counseling for cancer, but also on the need of communication and extension of listening days and hours. In our country context with a population with weak resources, the necessity of access to free call was also raised.
authors: Association Aidons les personnes atteintes ou Affectées par leCancer, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, CHU de Treichville, Service de Cancérologie, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. judith.didikouko@apaac-ci.org
authors: Judith
authors: J
authors: Didi-Kouko Coulibaly
authors: Hortense
authors: H
authors: Aka Dago-Akribi
authors: Blandine
authors: B
authors: Oyoua
authors: Yolande
authors: Y
authors: Koffi-Gnagne
authors: Innocent
authors: I
authors: Adoubi
authors: Kouassi Antoine
authors: KA
authors: Echimane
mesh_terms: D007560:Cote d'Ivoire; D003906:Developing Countries; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D015277:Hotlines / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008495:Medical Oncology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009369:Neoplasms; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors
keywords: APAAC association; cancer; developing countries; telephone counseling