Breast cancer no longer a taboo due to awareness campaign, says Samina Alvi

The wife of the president, Begum Samina Arif Alvi, has urged the women to regularly conduct self-examination and self-diagnosis for five minutes every month for an early detection of breast cancer.

She was addressing a breast cancer awareness session organised by the Karachi Bar Association on Saturday. She remarked that early detection of breast cancer was essential for enhancing the survival rate in Pakistan, where almost 50 per cent of breast cancer patients died due to late diagnosis.

Samina highlighted that breast cancer was the most common form of cancer found in women, adding that 90,000 to 100,000 cases of breast cancer were being reported in Pakistan every year. She said the mortality rate could be reduced by creating awareness among the women about its early symptoms.

She said that as per medical experts, the five-year survival rate of cancer patients at the third and fourth stages were 86 per cent and 28 per cent respectively, which meant that chances of surviving breast cancer were quite high provided that it was detected at early stages.

She remarked that women should inculcate the habit of self-examination and if they noticed any lump or unusual change in their breasts or surrounding areas, they should immediately seek medical help.

She highlighted that she had been working for this cause for the past four years, and the awareness campaign had started yielding results.

She said that breast cancer sessions were being regularly organised across the country, even in as remote areas as Wana, and people openly discussed this topic, which was previously considered a taboo.

She told the event that the number of breast cancer cases at the early stages had almost doubled in different hospitals of the country due to increasing awareness.

Talking to women lawyers, she said that healthy women were essential to achieve the dream of a healthy Pakistan. Healthy and active women could fully play their role in the socio-economic development of the country, she remarked as she appreciated the fact that a large number of women were practicing in the legal profession, and 30 per cent of the members of the Karachi Bar Association were women.

She said that Justice Ayesha Malik and visually impaired diplomat Saima Saleem were role models for the Pakistani women as they had proved that women could be an asset to the nation if equipped with skills and education. She also lauded the role of the media in promoting awareness about breast cancer.