"Breast cancer will become an epidemic in India in another 10 years if the country does not put in place a vigorous mechanism for early detection and an awareness building exercise."
- Umberto Veronesi (the father of modern breast cancer surgery).
Friday, January 30, 2009
Why Indian Women...?
The rise in the incidence of breast cancer in Indian cities to changing Lifestyles।
Even two generations ago, India was not the high incidence zone। That was because Indian women married early and nursed two to three children each on an average। That kept the hormones flowing and breasts remained healthy। But now, women in India are emulating the West, marrying late and the average child bearing age has increased to 30 and sometimes even beyond that. If a woman has her first child at 16, it reduces the risk of breast Cancer।
If India continues to follow in the footsteps of the West and women decide not to have children and stop weaning their babies, breast cancer will become an epidemic in five to 10 years' time.
India needs a change. It is growing richer and the healthcare system must be reconsidered. Women, especially in the semi-urban areas and Tier 2 cities, should be told that they are important to society and efforts must be made to preserve their health.
The average age of the high risk group in India is 43 to 46 years, unlike in the West where women aged 53-57 years are more prone to breast cancers. According to studies, less than three percent of women come for regular screening in India for early detection of the disease. Many Indian women in villages shy away from the doctor fearing social embarrassment. Globally, every three minutes a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer in the world, amounting to one million cases annually. The incidence could go up by 50 percent to 1.5 million by 2020, said the World Cancer Report.
Even two generations ago, India was not the high incidence zone। That was because Indian women married early and nursed two to three children each on an average। That kept the hormones flowing and breasts remained healthy। But now, women in India are emulating the West, marrying late and the average child bearing age has increased to 30 and sometimes even beyond that. If a woman has her first child at 16, it reduces the risk of breast Cancer।
If India continues to follow in the footsteps of the West and women decide not to have children and stop weaning their babies, breast cancer will become an epidemic in five to 10 years' time.
India needs a change. It is growing richer and the healthcare system must be reconsidered. Women, especially in the semi-urban areas and Tier 2 cities, should be told that they are important to society and efforts must be made to preserve their health.
The average age of the high risk group in India is 43 to 46 years, unlike in the West where women aged 53-57 years are more prone to breast cancers. According to studies, less than three percent of women come for regular screening in India for early detection of the disease. Many Indian women in villages shy away from the doctor fearing social embarrassment. Globally, every three minutes a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer in the world, amounting to one million cases annually. The incidence could go up by 50 percent to 1.5 million by 2020, said the World Cancer Report.
Priority
"The first priority in the campaign against breast cancer in India is early detection, which is fundamental. It makes the difference between life and death"।
The second most important thing is to convince women - to raise the level of women consciousness - and the third priority is to convince the government to equip hospitals and health facilities across the country with mammography machines for detection and all the allied technology required for a big intervention programme।"
Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer among women. According to a study by International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), there will be approximately 250,000 new cases of breast cancer in India by 2015. At present, India reports around 100,000 new cases annually.
Chances of survival and cures for breast cancer is as high as 90 percent.
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