An Undeniable Scourge

It’s October and another breast cancer awareness month. As one involved in health care delivery, I am impressed to write a few lines on the scourge that breast cancer is.

I grew up being fed with the info that cancers were generally an affliction of the non-negro race. They were incurable and passed a death sentence on whoever suffers from them. Today, cancers are found just about anywhere and with increasing numbers possibly due to greater awareness.

The statistics for breast cancer are there for everyone to see: obviously commoner in females than men, the severity is more when the latter are affected. All women are at risk. It is the number 1 cause of cancer-related deaths in women, about 465,000 annually. One in eight women or 12.6% of all women will get breast cancer in their lifetime. Every 13 minutes a woman dies of breast cancer. For this year alone, the WHO projects that over 1 million cases of breast cancers will be diagnosed. These are not mere statistics for researchers but underscore the fact that Breast cancer has become a scourge of humanity.

The good thing is that early detection and invariably effective treatment of breast cancer reduce overall related deaths, allowing women to continue leading happy and productive lives. In fact, it is said that the five-year survival rate is close to 100% when the cancer is confined only to the breast tissue prior to commencement of treatment. As a woman ages, her risk of breast cancer also increases. About 77% of women with breast cancer are over age 50 at the time of diagnosis whereas women between the ages of 20 and 29 account for only 0.3% of breast cancer cases.

And so this year’s breast cancer awareness month calls for emphasis in educating and empowering young women to take charge of their own breast health by teaching them the benefits of early detection.It is recommended that beginning at the age of 20, every woman should practice monthly breast self-exams as well as commence a routine program of scheduling physician performed clinical breast exams at least every three years. By age 40, all women should have annual screening mammograms, receive clinical breast exams by a Physician each year, and practice breast self-exams every months.

But just how many 1st degree relatives of those who have suffered breast cancer have taken a mammogram where it is available? Better still; make a routine of a self-breast exam? The bitter truth is many people are afraid to get a “death sentence” at the prime of their lives and hang on to the false assumption that “what you don’t know can do you no harm”. This is very sad.

We must de-program such deceits from our thoughts, consciously seek to be enlightened, and bear the responsibility for our own health. Indeed, what we don’t know can kill us. Early detection of breast cancer is a good gain. Let us make this month count by raising public awareness on the benefits of early detection.

(Wear and give out a pink ribbon).