Breast Cancer Awareness Day |19 October 2021
‘Let’s all be united in our commitment to ending breast cancer’
“As Seychelles observes the National Breast Cancer Day, we all must be united in our commitment to ending breast cancer and improving the lives of all those affected by this illness.”
This comes in a message from the Women Parliamentary Caucus on the occasion of Breast Cancer Awareness Day being celebrated today, October 19.
The full message reads:
“October 19 each year is dedicated as Breast Cancer Awareness worldwide, to stand with the courageous women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer and honor those who have lost the battle to this terrible disease.
“According to the WHO, every 30 seconds, somewhere in the world, breast cancer is diagnosed. Breast cancer is the most common malignant tumor in the female population and if detected early it reduces the probability of death by 25%. WHO has declared October as the month of awareness of breast cancer, creating a health campaign whose objective is to increase the attention and support given to the awareness, early detection, treatment and palliative care of those who suffer from the disease.
“Worldwide, the year 2020 has been marked by the Covid-19 pandemic that has also affected many breast cancer patients due to the healthcare priorities.
“As the second most common cancer affecting women worldwide, an estimated 1 in 8 women will develop breast cancer over the course of their lifetime and 281,550 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in the United States in 2021. According to the World Health Organisation, breast cancer has now overtaken lung cancer as the world’s mostly commonly-diagnosed cancer, according to statistics released by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in December 2020.
Additionally, Seychelles has not been spared from this gruesome disease, affecting women of productive age and those above 50 years old. According to the latest WHO data published in 2018 breast cancer deaths in Seychelles reached 12 or 1.68% of total deaths. The age adjusted death rate is 18.80 per 100,000 of population, ranks Seychelles as number 63 in the world.
“Cancer touches so many families in our country, including ours. Being a disease that affects a large proportion of the female population in Seychelles, the Women’s Parliamentary Caucus of the National Assembly of Seychelles strongly urge all women to seek early detection measures as it is one of the most important strategies for treating breast cancer successfully and regular screenings are the most reliable way to detect it early. Although the Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted many parts of our lives, we urge the Ministry of Health and other private health sectors to renew urgency to getting these recommended screenings scheduled, before a cancer spreads and becomes less treatable. I encourage everyone to maintain their scheduled screenings, doctor appointments, and treatments without delay while observing coronavirus safety measures.
“As members of the National Assembly of Seychelles, the Women’s Parliamentary Caucus is dedicated to become breast cancer ambassadors to support all women and their families to take action to help stop breast cancer and save lives. This is important because there's so much more we need to do to stop breast cancer taking the lives of the women we love. As Seychelles observes the National Breast Cancer Day, we all must be united in our commitment to ending breast cancer and improving the lives of all those affected by this illness.”
Women Parliamentary Caucus