This year June 5, 2022 marks the World Cancer Survivors Day. The day is observed on the first Sunday of June every year. The aim of the day is to honor those who are living with a history of cancer. It is also a day to acknowledge the contributions of their families, friends, and healthcare providers, as well as those engaged in cancer research.
The person who is living with a history of cancer is known as a cancer survivor. The official theme of this year of cancer survivor day is A Celebration of Life. Every year around 2 million people are affected by cancer. According to the global cancer statistics report published in 2020, female breast cancer is recognized as the leading cause of global cancer incidence and about 2.3 million new breast cancer cases were diagnosed including about 11.7 per cent of all new cancer cases worldwide. Reportedly, about 685,000 females died because of breast cancer in 2020.
The prevalence of breast cancer increasing tremendously in Bangladesh but there is no national central cancer registry that can provide complete nationwide data. Therefore, the actual incidence and mortality of breast cancer is mostly unknown. The statistics from International Agency for Research on cancer, every year an estimated 1.5 lakh people develop cancer in Bangladesh.
The rate of incidence of breast cancer abowut 22.5 per 100000 females and the highest prevalence rate 19.3 per 100,000 women age between 15 and 44 years.
Some research data show that higher extent of premenopausal cases and among the patients around 90 per cent are diagnosed at stage III–IV. It might be due to lower preference for the treatment compared to younger family members as only one doctor serves approximately 3,300 people in urban areas and more than 15,000 people in rural areas.
Another issue is the socio-cultural factors that contribute to delay in seeking treatment because of breast cancer are a topic that is not freely discussed in public. Besides, lack of proper knowledge and illiteracy among women are also the major causes behind late detection of breast cancer in Bangladesh.
According to experts, addressing breast cancer in Bangladesh is becoming tougher due to a lack of a central database, mass awareness and long-rooted sociocultural and family traditions. Poor knowledge of risk factors, delay represents the cases, and low community awareness is responsible for the highest prevalence among youth in Bangladesh, according to public health experts. Clinical expert suggests for Breast self-examination (BSE) that could be performed as an effective way for early detection as BSE is simple, inexpensive and more importantly can be carried out by the women themselves in houses.
The Breast Health Global Initiative strongly recommended that, if females have adequate knowledge and awareness of breast cancer self-examination (BSE), the disease could be diagnosed at an early stage as well as could be easier to manage the disease.
Faria Sultana is a Senior Lecturer at Department of English, Fareast International University