Every year October is marked as an annual campaign month at the global level to raise awareness about breast cancer and this October the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government\u2019s health department has attracted a great deal of attention by announcing to extend mammography services to divisional hospitals to combat the disease at the early stage when it is the most treatable. In common words, breast cancer is the growth of an additional lump or tumor in the breast or under the armpit. The step can be described as a great initiative of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government as breast imaging services can provide key to detecting and treating breast cancer before the women experience any symptoms of the disease.
\nAs a first step, the provincial government\u2019s decision would raise awareness and, of course, would do away with the so-called taboo associated with discussing or treating breast cancer. And, this would ensure early detection of abnormal swellings or lumps in the breast and its treatment in the initial stage would allow women, mostly of far-flung areas, to come to terms with the medical condition and remove the tumor to live a thriving life. Under the proposed plan, KP\u2019s health department would ensure availability of modern mammography apparatus with relevant human resources in divisional hospitals of Peshawar, Mardan, Malakand, Kohat, Hazara, Dera Ismail Khan and Bannu.
\nHealth professionals and researchers believe that effective treatment of the ailment is subject to its detection in the initial stage. Named as \u201cEarly Detection Initiative\u201d, if implemented in letter and spirit, would enable the health authorities to find ways to reduce persistent disparities and improve the survival rates for women with breast cancer. Millions of women in the province do not have adequate access to healthcare facilities and this kind of specific health facility at the divisional level hospitals will let poor women to avail specialized medical care and treat the disease at the doorstep. Findings of a recent study, which has been shared by the World Health Organization Global Breast Cancer Initiatives (GBCI) with media in the first week of the current month, reveal that risk of death among women with metastatic breast cancer increases with increasing number of chronic conditions, such as diabetes, hypertension and obesity.
\nThe breast cancer affects 9,000 women, whereas 40,000 women succumb to the disease in Pakistan annually. Issued on the world breast cancer awareness month (BCAM), Pink Ribon organization shared in its latest report that Pakistan has the highest incidence of breast cancer across Asia. Nearly 43.7 percent of these cases are detected at the advance stages and could be prevented through timely intervention. Health professionals and senior oncologists serving in government health facilities have termed detection at the initial stages a first step for proper treatment. Free mammograms, clinical examination and ultrasound for women to get tested in local hospitals would help the government improve the long-term outcomes both for patients and their family members. Despite the fact that the province lacks a uniformed program against all types of cancer in the province, the services in government run-hospitals would hopefully improve cancer registry to record all cases of breast cancer in the province. With proper record about the ailment, the survival rate for all women with breast cancer will go upward. Additionally, it will also play a pivotal role in spreading awareness and would directly allay the severity of taboo in the rural set-up.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Every year October is marked as an annual campaign month at the global level to raise awareness about breast cancer and this October the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government\u2019s health department has attracted a great deal of attention by announcing to extend mammography services to divisional hospitals to combat the disease at the early stage when it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[8],"tags":[11043,11042],"class_list":{"0":"post-289057","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-editorial","7":"tag-commendable-job","8":"tag-kp-health-dept"},"yoast_head":"\n