Media urged to create awareness about breast cancer

Begum Alvi says women need to open up about their disease for early detection

ISLAMABAD: Many women lose lives to breast cancer due to lack of awareness about the disease, said First Lady Begum Samina Alvi on Wednesday.

Women need to overcome the barriers of shyness and social taboos to open up about their disease for early detection and cure she said while participating in a walk organised by the PAF Hospital at the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) Complex to create awareness about breast cancer.

Breast cancer is killing women in Pakistan, she said, and called for enhanced awareness, besides effective measures, to check the disease.

Highlighting the important role of media, she said television, radio and social media could play a vital role in creating awareness about the disease and its cure through dissemination of public-service messages.

Alvi said the effective use of media alone could create awareness about the curable disease and remove the people's apprehensions and misconceptions about it.

Minar-e-Pakistan turns pink for breast cancer awareness

She congratulated the PAF Hospital Islamabad for the successful holding of walk and the measures being taken by the hospital to check the disease, besides creating awareness about the breast cancer. Earlier, Pakistan Air Force Women Association (PAFWA) President Begum Tazeen Mujahid, in her welcome remarks, highlighted the objectives of the walk.

Dr Samina Rizwan, in her lecture, stressed that timely diagnosis of the breast cancer could help the women in getting rid of the curable disease.

Later a woman, who successfully recovered from the breast cancer, apprised the participants of her experiences. A large number of young girls, women, doctors, hospital staff, teachers and students participated in the walk, which was aimed at highlighting the importance of creating awareness about the breast cancer, early diagnosis and timely treatment.

Alarming situation: Over 40,000 die of breast cancer every year in Pakistan

The participants were carrying posters and placards inscribed with the advices to the patients of breast cancer to fight the curable disease with courage

Rawalpindi Medical College Vice chancellor Professor Dr Muhammad Umar Wednesday said that there was need to educate women about self-examination because breast cancer did not affect only woman but the whole family bears consequences in terms of social and financial impacts.

The VC said that the condition of breast cancer in the country was alarming. One out of eight women in the country had breast cancer, he said. Dr Umer informed that in order to get relevant data and improve the services of health care in hospitals, a unit of Cancer Registry had been set up at Holy Family Hospital with the assistance of surgical specialists and young doctors.

He said according to the WHO, if the incidence of cancer continues to grow at the present rate, the number of deaths from cancer will increase to more than 13.1 million by 2030 worldwide. 

Published in The Express Tribune, October 10^th, 2019.