‘I was told I couldn’t have an Afro wig’ | Global News Avenue

Anastasia Cameron was turned away from hairdressers from the age of seven because she was told they “don’t do afros”.

The 39-year-old, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2021, said little had changed when she needed to wear a wig as an adult after undergoing chemotherapy.

“It was so bad, they basically said I couldn’t have Afro hair,” she said. “After being diagnosed and dealing with the physical changes, you’re in a traumatic position – but I was back in isolation and having to deal with the situation myself.”

The experience took her back to her childhood, when she was kicked out of salons or laughed at by her peers after getting haircuts by inexperienced stylists.

“I just felt like something was wrong with me,” she said.

“The shame that I faced for so long — it really traumatizes you.”

When Ms Cameron needed a range of wigs of the right texture after cancer treatment, she couldn’t find them.

But changes to NHS contracts in Wales now mean wig suppliers must offer a wider range of products to ethnic communities.

This prompted Ms Cameron, a hairdresser and wig maker from Luce, Vale of Glamorgan, to personally bid for a contract with NHS Wales, meaning she is now ensuring cancer patients have options she did not have.

She said there was still a huge skills gap among hairdressers who were not trained to cut curly or African-textured hair like hers.

“I recently had my first haircut after chemo and had to talk to the person because they didn’t know what to do. I have the experience to do it, but I shouldn’t have to.”

For Denise Mayhew, ambassador for cancer charity Black Women Rising, the gap in appropriate aftercare is a familiar theme.

But there are differences in health care itself. She herself was treated very well, she said, but that’s not common.

“We may all be one human being, but we are definitely not treated the same,” says the 42-year-old who was diagnosed with blood cancer multiple myeloma 2018.

“Someone comes into their medical team and says ‘please treat me like a white woman so I can survive’. It’s heartbreaking.”

She explained that “myths and taboos” often create barriers to diagnosis, including women being stereotyped as “black and strong”, meaning their pain is ignored.

Cultural attitudes and religious beliefs within communities may make people hesitant about chemotherapy, although efforts are underway to “try to change that narrative.”

Breast cancer surgeon Zoe Barber admitted that “people have legitimate concerns about being dismissed as doctors”.

Women in these groups are often diagnosed at a later date, leading to more invasive treatments and worse prognosis, she said.

Ms Barber added that post-treatment support was not always enough.

Prostheses provided after mastectomies “were not available until recently in a white or light peach color, and if you were a woman with non-white skin, that was ‘other’ for you.”

“As clinicians, we should also be advocating for these women. I think it’s still really important that we recognize that we’re still failing these women and there’s still a lot of work to be done.”

Judi Rhys of Tenovus Cancer Care said a lack of data on patient race remains a “significant barrier to equitable health care.”

“We are calling for the collection of data on patient ethnicity because our research shows that despite regulations to do so, this data is not being collected regularly,” she said.

“We knew the event was coming, but progress was too slow.

“Not only can these data inform tailored treatment pathways, they can also highlight underrepresented groups in research and clinical trials, differences in screening uptake, and the need for essential services like hair replacement during treatment.”

The Welsh Government said it takes health inequalities “very seriously” and has implemented “a range of improvements to data collection and analysis”.

The company added that it would continue to work with NHS Wales to “identify how ethnicity data can be further captured” so that it can be made available when people access healthcare.