Healthy lifestyle, balanced diet, self-examination of the body and early diagnosis are key factors that can protect the lives of millions of adult women in Pakistan from the fatal disease of breast cancer.
This was said at an awareness session recently organised by the National Forum for Environment and Health (NFEH) in collaboration with the Arts Council to commemorate Pink October, the breast cancer awareness month.
Medical practitioners and noted women from different fields highlighted the precautions the female population of the country should adopt against breast cancer at the event.
In her keynote speech, Dr Ayesha Hasan, cancer awareness medical officer of the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Trust, said girls should be educated to promptly report to the doctor if there was any anomaly related to their reproductive health or physical well-being for early diagnosis of the women’s cancers.
She lamented that women in the urban areas had long forgotten the importance of a balanced diet for maintaining their health as healthy foods like green leafy vegetables and fish were seldom eaten.
She underlined the importance of adopting the regular practice of self-examination of the body to detect any early signs of breast cancer. She advised the audience that they should not ignore any early signs or symptoms of breast cancer as the timely diagnosis of the fatal disease could save many lives.
Dr Hasan said there were many social myths attached to breast cancer but one should not subscribe to them as they had no scientific basis as their adoption could delay the proper treatment of the disease.
She said that after developing the early symptoms of breast cancer, women should not hesitate from mammograms as the clinical procedure had no side effects as the x-ray of any body part.
The Shaukat Khanum Trust official said that timely mammograms could save many women from breast cancer treatment that was much more costly and painful. Dr Unaiza Niaz, senior psychiatrist, suggested that cancer treatment facilities in the country should hire the services of a psychologist for maintaining the emotional and mental health of female cancer patients who had to face enormous stress.
She said that emotional support from the male members of the family of a breast cancer patient went a long way to keep her morale high for defeating the disease. She explained that cancer patients during and after the treatment of the disease should undergo psychiatric evaluation on a regular basis to maintain their mental health against the massive stress caused by the onslaught of the fatal disease.
Prof Zubala Yasir Lufti, a nutrition specialist, informed the audience about healthy dietary practices in daily life, which could ward off the chances of cancerous diseases among women. Dr Afshan Rubab, the District South administrator, who was also the chief guest on the occasion, said that due preventive health measures should be taken to protect women against breast cancer whose incidences had alarmingly increased in society in the past some years.
She urged the girls and young women to go out and acquire their due place in the parks and other public spaces for jogging, walking, sports and other healthy recreational activities to maintain their health.
She said the seminars halls, lecture rooms, community centres, and other public spaces available with the District Municipal Administration South were fully available for holding awareness sessions on breast cancer.
Earlier, in her welcome remarks, NFEH Secretary General Ruqiya Naeem expressed gratitude to the Arts Council Karachi for sparing its premises every year for holding awareness sessions on breast cancer.
She said that her non-governmental organization would continue to organise more such activities to spread mass awareness about fast-spreading diseases, especially among women.
