I
didn’t think much about breast cancer
until last year when a close relative (43/44 years old) who was living a
remarkably happy and healthy life was suddenly asked by her family doctor for
further investigations to confirm whether she had breast cancer. The news sent
out a shock wave across the family and everyone was so disturbed that what
happened suddenly. A happy family with a routine life was suddenly faced with
an uphill task of visiting Lahore almost every week initially for the
investigations and then when it was confirmed, for the treatment. A heart
attack to the husband during these disturbing days was linked to the diagnosis
of the wife with breast cancer by everyone in the family.
It
was almost a yearlong painful and exhaustive exercise not only for the patient
but also for the entire family. “The cancer patient isn’t the only one with cancer. The family has
cancer, too,” Everything was disturbed
back home from the financial aspects of the family to the burden to take care
of the patient, travel to Lahore from Mardan regularly, stay at hotels, respond
to the questions from family and friends largely unaware about breast cancer
and how to deal with it. This case was an ordeal for the patient as well as her
entire family and drained them of huge financial resources and savings and
pushed them from a stable financial position into debts.
I
read that “All women age 40 and older are at risk for breast cancer,
though most breast cancers occur in women over the age of 50. Some risk factors
for breast cancer are avoidable. Taking birth control pills or hormone
replacement therapy; not breast-feeding after having a child, having two to
five alcoholic drinks a day, being overweight, and not exercising all increase
the risk for breast cancer”. The most common symptom of breast cancer is a
new lump or mass. A mass that is painless, hard, and has irregular edges is
more likely to be cancerous, but breast cancers can be tender, soft, or rounded
and can even be painful. Other possible signs of breast cancer include:
Swelling of all or part of a breast (even if no distinct lump is felt); Skin
irritation or dimpling; Breast or nipple pain; Nipple retraction (turning
inward); Redness, scaliness, or thickening of the nipple or breast skin; A
nipple discharge other than breast milk. Although any of these symptoms can be
caused by things other than breast cancer, if one has them, they should be
reported to doctor so that she can find the cause.
While
having a look at the awareness raising initiatives by the ‘Pink Ribbon’ NGO I was pleasantly surprised that someone has already started
working on creating awareness about this killer disease. The month of October has been dedicated to create awareness about breast
cancer and a number of events
take place during the month in Pakistan as well. There is however, a need to
focus more to be able to create widespread awareness and protect lives. As mentioned
in October 6 editorial of
this paper, “It (Breast Cancer) is the most frequent malignancy to occur in
women and accounts for 38.5 per cent of all cancers in women with a staggering
90,000 new cases every year, and as many as 40,000 deaths. Out of local cases,
43.7 per cent are judged to be ‘advanced’ — a total that could be significantly
reduced with timely intervention”.
The
statistics above are a grim reminder of the fact that it is high time that
breast cancer is taken seriously and organizations like Pink Ribbon are
supported. This is also crucial that besides a handful of NGOs and health
professionals, the civil society at large, the parliamentarians, particularly female,
the print and electronic media and people from all walks of life join hands to
effectively respond to the deadly disease and to be able to protect more lives.
Similarly, I could not found if there is any organized programme being run
either by the federal or any of the provincial governments about a disease
which is affecting such a large number of the population and which have so many
long lasting effects. I think it will be good if people like Maryam Nawaz
Sharif, Reham Khan, Asefa Bhutto Zardari and Bushra Gohar with many more
leading female social and political figures start speaking about the disease
and focus on prioritizing it on the agenda of the federal and provincial
governments. With my little awareness of the subject I am not sure if
prevention is possible however, I am sure that a timely diagnosis can save many
lives and reduce the associated complications.
To be
honest, before reading for this article, I wasn’t aware at all that men can
also contract breast cancer. However, due to various reasons “breast cancer is one hundred times more common in women than in men”. It is therefore very important that there is widespread awareness in
the society about breast cancer. Awareness among men about the disease is a key
because their timely action and support to women is of critical importance to
ensure timely intervention. Men’s awareness is also important so that they can
focus on the prevention aspects and focus on some risk factors that are
avoidable i.e. being overweight and not exercising.
PS:
Most of the information was quoted from Pink Ribbon’s website and other
relevant websites that have been hyperlinked. For further information please
visit:
The writer is a child rights activist and holds a Masters in Human
Rights from the London School of Economics is working for the promotion and
protection of child rights. He tweets @amahmood72
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