Breast cancer: Regular screening is key
For cancer survivors who have completed their treatment, experts recommend the incorporation of high-intensity interval training into their routines. PHOTO/BEATRICE NAKIBUUKA
What you need to know:
- The issue: Breast cancer awareness month.
- Our view: But by publishing these stories of resilience, Acheing’s inclusive, we hope to add our voice to efforts to promote the need for regular breast cancer screening, the importance of early diagnosis, seeking immediate treatment, counselling and pyscho-social support, fighting stigma but most of all that cancer can be treated.
The news of a positive cancer diagnosis is one of the most dreaded thing and yet these diagnoses are received more frequently than we care to mention.
According to Rays of Hope Hospice Jinja, last year, 227 cases of cervical cancer and 129 cases of breast were recorded at the facility.
October is breast Cancer awareness month and in observance of this, we have been publishing stories on the subject by way of survivor’s tales, how to deal with a positive cancer diagnosis, how to improve quality of life after a diagnosis and the gruelling cycles of treatment ie, chemotherapy, radiation and other treatments, rehabilitation and palliative care and so much more in our editions spread throughout this month.
All of these stories from these varying angles are to create awareness and increase knowledge on breast cancer that has indiscriminately plagued not only our country but the world.
According to Global Cancer Statistics 2022, breast cancer accounts for about 23.3 percent of all cancers in women, making it the second most common among women in the country. Statistics indicate that breast cancer is responsible for around 12.6 percent of all cancer-related deaths in Uganda. Not forgetting that men too can suffer from breast cancer. In fact, according to Dr Noleb Mugisha, the head of cancer prevention at Uganda Cancer Institute, every year about 40 men present for the first time with breast cancer. And of course not all cases in the country go to the institute.
The mystery surrounding cancer for many communities especially in rural areas makes the scourge even more intense. This is why awareness drives, such as the one we have this month are key.
Stories of survivors such as Rose Acheing, a 55 year old teacher at Gayaza Primary School who was diagnosed with cancer in 2017 but fought to hold onto life by going through treatment despite the physical, emotional and mental toll it took keeps hope alive for many who might be on that journey.
After enduring gruelling cycles of chemotherapy and going through radiation, and struggling to meet the costs of treatment, she made it through and now proudly tells all and sundry that, it is a difficult journey but there can be life at the end of the tunnel.
Of course all this is not in oblivion of the prohibitive cost of cancer treatment and pain and change that comes with this diagnosis.
But by publishing these stories of resilience, Acheing’s inclusive we hope to add our voice to efforts to promote the need for regular breast cancer screening, the importance of early diagnosis, seeking immediate treatment, counselling and pyscho-social support, and fighting stigma.
