‘Screening a must to avoid breast cancer’

Rawalpindi Medical University (RMU) Vice Chancellor Dr Muhammad Umar said breast cancer was a deadly disease, but was curable if diagnosed at an earlier stage.

The vice chancellor said that there was a need to educate women about self-examination because breast cancer did not affect only women, but the whole family has to bear consequences in terms of social and financial affects.

“October is a breast cancer awareness month, but it is also a month to shed light on the importance, actualities and education on breast cancer,” he added.

“Women should begin screening for breast cancer at 40. If you have a family history of breast cancer, you may need to be screened preferably,” said Dr Umer.

Read Save lives with early diagnosis of breast cancer

The cases of breast cancer in Pakistan were alarming, as Pakistan has the highest cases of breast cancer in Asia. “One out of 8th women in Pakistan is diagnosed with breast cancer during their lifetime,” he said.

He revealed that women in the developing world, like Pakistan, die at greater rates than in more developed countries because the disease was generally diagnosed later, which resulted in poor treatment results.

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 help of surgical specialists and junior doctors.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 7^th, 2021.