Breast cancer awareness should be year-round program

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, as designated by the World Health Organization (WHO). The month is spent creating awareness, honouring the millions of lives affected by breast cancer and reaffirming the global commitment to equitable access to care and improved survival for all. 

This year, the theme of Breast Cancer Awareness Month is; ‘Every Story is Unique, Every Journey Matters’.

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among women worldwide. In 2022, approximately 2.3 million women were diagnosed and another 670,000 died from the disease.

According to the WHO, while the five-year survival rates in high-income countries exceeds 90%, the figures drop to 66% in India and 40% in South Africa. These disparities are driven by unequal access to early detection, timely diagnosis and effective treatment. If the current trend continues, the incidence and mortality are projected to rise by 40% by 2050; hence the need for urgent and coordinated action. Indeed, where a woman lives should not determine whether she survives, the world health body states.

In Sri Lanka the available statistics are worrying. Approximately 15 new breast cancer cases are reported daily in the country, while about three women die each day due to the disease, health authorities have revealed.

National Cancer Control Programme (NCCP) Director Dr. Shreeni Alahapperuma told a press briefing recently that 19,457 female cancer patients were identified in Sri Lanka in 2022, according to recorded data.

Out of these, 5,477 were breast cancer cases, accounting for 28% of all female cancers and of the 15,245 cancer-related deaths that occur annually in Sri Lanka, 798 deaths are due to breast cancer.

She said that while early detection of breast cancer leads to successful treatment, around 30% of cases are diagnosed in the late stages, making treatment complicated.

Each year Breast Cancer Awareness Month is commemorated in Sri Lanka with awareness programs.

This year the Women Parliamentarians’ Caucus has announced that all parliamentarians and parliamentary staff will be encouraged to wear pink on a selected day in the next parliamentary week to support breast cancer awareness.

They also agreed to request for a debate in Parliament on breast cancer to draw more public focus on this curable condition if there is early detection.

The Director of the National Cancer Control Programme, along with other medical professionals, briefed the Women Parliamentarians’ Caucus on breast cancer prevention and emphasised that early detection and treatment of breast cancer can lead to a cure and stressed the importance of breast self-examination (BSE) in addition to medical screenings.

In Sri Lanka awareness programs have started at the school level across the country which is a good initiative.

One of the main problems in Sri Lanka, despite its good health indicators, is the reluctance of people to follow the age-old adage, “prevention is better than cure.” Similarly with the State health services stretched to the limit, not enough money and time is spent on programs for early detection of cancers and educational programs. Whatever screening available is done at private hospitals at heavy costs and is beyond the reach of most women.

One of the most important steps the health authorities can take is to dedicate October for general screening for breast cancer. This should then become a more regular affair so that all women have access to proper care. The awareness programs should also not be confined to one month of the year but be made a regular affair so that there can be more awareness, more early detection, leading to better treatment thus leading to a higher survival rate.