October observes as the month of breast cancer awareness all across the globe. Breast cancer is one of the dangerous types of cancer. Pakistan has the highest rate of deaths due to breast cancer in Asia. In Pakistan, one in nine women has a patient of breast cancer or at the risk of this disease. Every year almost 40,000 women die out of 83,000 estimate reported cases of deadly disease. It is an alarming situation which needs prompt attention and demand awareness among the women about the disease.
In our country’s traditional society, there is no proper system to keep record of previous cancer cases and collecting the required data. As we are going more towards westernization and following the western formats in our life style. So, the major cause of breast cancer is to drinking alcohol, smoking, avoid breast feeding to infants and obesity etc.
As everyone knows that drinking alcohol and smoking are injurious to health but still ratio of drinking, smoking and addiction of different drugs are increasing among the girls, Why?
In all over the awareness programs and campaigns launched for creating awareness throughout the month of October and approached their women to share health problems and early diagnoses. But in case of Pakistan unfortunately the situation is keep stick towards the awareness campaigns only and nothing is being done for preventing the deadly disease. People are unaware even in the medical profession. Many women lost their lives, and mostly from the poor families. Government hospitals do not welcome patients for the treatment and hardly give accommodation. And on the other side private hospitals are too expensive which mostly people can’t afford.
It is the responsibility of our government to create awareness among the women in this regard. Related health authorities, medical professionals and government ought to develop enough confidence inside the women that they do share their health issues. Most of unaware females feel ashamed while sharing their health problems. So, it is necessary to make them confident for discussing the health related issues and urges them to go for the early diagnoses. And this practice is for women of rural and urban areas both. Government ought to take serious precautionary measures and have to provide complete medical care.
Mammogram screening program is very effective for detecting the disease, but its very expensive and unaffordable for those people who have limited income resources. Then a very simple and affordable way to test. This technique is known as Self Breast-Examination (BSE), just once in a month. Expert medical Practitioners and nurses will teach the women that how they can check themselves easily once in a month. Hence, there is need of some serious efforts from our government and administration’s side that they have establish hospitals, labs and clinics as per the requirements. And to provide more expert doctors and surgeons to facilitate the women from good, instant and affordable treatment of deadly disease.