Raising awareness: One in four women have breast cancer in Pakistan

Pakistan Breast Cancer Trust signs memorandum with UN.


Sehrish Wasif October 30, 2014

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Breast Cancer Trust inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the United Nations on Thursday to create widespread awareness about breast cancer, which claims the lives of around 50,000 of women in Pakistan every year and can easily be prevented.

Speakers at the signing ceremony held at a local hotel expressed grave concern over the absence of accurate data about all kind of cancers at the federal level and the lack of awareness about the disease among people and doctors.

National Health Services, Regulation and Coordination (NHSRC) Minister of State Saira Afzal Tarar, speaking to participants, said currently the National Cancer Registry in Pakistan and information on the disease that was collected through Health Information System is missing since the devolution of health ministry after the 18th Amendment.

“Not a single penny has been released to any private or public hospital to conduct a survey or to gather data on cancer patients,” she claimed.

To overcome the issue, the Pakistan Medical and Research Council (PMRC) has been asked to start gathering data on all kinds of cancer in the country and for this purpose funds have been released recently, she said.

She further added that most hospitals collect data on a yearly basis. “PMRC pools this yearly information from six major hospitals of the country and according to it, breast cancer frequency has been 25 per cent since 1974 and is the same in 2014,” she stated.

“This 25 per cent means that out of every four women, one has breast cancer,” she said.

Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical University Vice-Chancellor Prof Javed Akram said the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences will soon be launching mobile mammography services for women living in far-flung areas of the country which will help them to get screened for the disease before it gets too late.

Lola Castro, country director World Food Programme, said it is disheartening to see so many women dying in Pakistan due to breast cancer which could easily be prevented through early detection and proper treatment.

“I believe one of the biggest challenges are existing social taboos as people avoid talking about the female body,” said a Unicef official on the condition of anonymity.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 31st, 2014.

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