Staff Reporter
Peshawar
As many as 15000 women in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa suffer from breast cancer every year while there are 9.8 million women who are currently affected from the fatal disease, which leads Pakistan to high-risk countries. It was informed by experts during a seminar on Breast Cancer Awareness organized by Quality Enhancement Cell at Khyber Medical University (KMU) here on Wednesday.
The experts said timely diagnosis of breast cancer can reduce the number of deaths per year by 90 percent. The growing number of breast cancer patients in society is a major challenge for all of us that can be met through joint efforts, especially through large-scale mass awareness.
Prof. Dr. Muhammad Saleem Gandapur, Registrar, Khyber Medical University (KMU), Peshawar, Prof. Dr. Abid Jamil, Head, Department of Oncology, Hayatabad Medical Complex, Dr. Saima Abid, President, Public Health Association, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Dr. Amjad Ali and Asiya Bukhari, Director, QEC- KMU also addressed on the occasion.
Prof. Dr. Muhammad Saleem Gandapur termed the holding of the seminar as a need of the hour and said that the rising rate of malignant diseases like cancer is a major challenge for the entire society as well as medical research institutes and medical professionals. He said that early diagnosis of cancer could not only save the lives of cancer patients but also reduce the huge cost involved. He said that this insidious disease can be combated by creating awareness among the people on a large scale.
They said that cancer usually affects the breast, bones, lungs, liver and stomach, with the highest rate being noted in the breast. They said that according to modern research and international standards, cancer can be easily diagnosed through CT scan instead of ultrasound and X-ray. Timely diagnosis of various stages of cancer could not only make the treatment effective but also prevent the loss of precious human lives they added.
Experts said that cancer is no longer incurable but due to high cost of treatment, in a poor and backward country like Pakistan, treatment is often beyond the reach of patients. They said that 32 percent of the 200,000 cases of cancer that occur in Pakistan every year are from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the treatment of which costs from Rs. 50,000 to Rs. 5 million. They said that one lac people are dying every year due to this insidious disease which is a major challenge for the survival of humanity.
