Denying the Risk = Multiplying the Risk

Cancer is a scary topic. No one wants to talk about it. No one wants to think about it. No one wants to even imagine it happening to someone they love…… but not wanting something doesn’t make it less of a reality.

Cancer is a reality and affects more than 2 million women across the world each year. In Pakistan, 1 in every 9 women has a risk of developing breast cancer and sadly the number is increasing each year. There are multiple reasons behind this rapidly growing number but the most shocking reason is a delay in diagnosis.

This delay in diagnosis is strongly related to our culture where both men and women feel embarrassed and consider breast health to be a “private matter”. They understand the importance of routine blood sugar and cholesterol tests but avoid mammograms, often until it is too late.

Mammograms identify breast cancer even before it can be felt on physical examination. The earlier the identification, the better the prognosis. This is an established fact and each year campaigns are run globally to increase awareness and encourage women above 35 years to get a screening mammogram.

Unfortunately, although the campaigns have increased awareness, there needs to be more of an effort to change the mind-set of the average woman in Pakistan. A culture of denial is rampant in society where women think it could never happen to them. It is high time we all take individual responsibility and convince the women in our families, friends and acquaintances that no one is safe from this deadly disease. If we aren’t actively working towards the solution, we may be part of the problem.

Dr. Sana Ansari

(Manager, Quality Assurance, Clifton Campus)

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Reference :

Zaheer, S., Shah, N., Maqbool, S.A. et al. Estimates of past and future time trends in age-specific breast cancer incidence among women in Karachi, Pakistan: 2004–2025. BMC Public Health 19, 1001 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-7330-z

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