LAHORE, Oct 12: Like other parts of the world, October is being observed as Breast Cancer Awareness Month (BCAM) in the country but the campaign has not gone beyond deliberations.

None of the public health institutions in Punjab has a comprehensive centre for women with breast tumor. The month is being observed since 1993 and has been introduced as worldwide campaign to increase awareness of the disease.

BCAM is observed every year in the province by arranging events like awareness walks, seminars and consultative dialogues.

Practically, there is inadequate healthcare for the women with chest tumor or breast cancer. The successive governments have failed to establish a full-fledged cancer centre since 1993.

“Of the 0.25 million women suffering from breast cancer in Pakistan, 0.1 million die every year,” Surgical Oncology Society of Pakistan President Prof Dr Arshad Cheema told Dawn on Friday.

Expressing concern over poor healthcare arrangements, he said the death ratio of women with breast cancer in Pakistan was many times high compared to America and some other European countries.

Prof Cheema, who is also chairman of the King Edward Medical University’s surgery department, said there was no comprehensive cancer centre all over the province for breast cancer or tumor care.

“A comprehensive cancer centre requires a combination of experts like surgical oncologist, medical oncologist and radio oncologist for early diagnosis and complete treatment of cancer,” he said.

He said the poor state of affairs regarding human resource and gadgets could be gauged from the fact that the surgery department of the Mayo Hospital had no facility of mammogram -- an essential format of investigation (X-ray picture of the breast) for screening of breast cancer.

“Screening mammograms are used to check for breast cancer in women who have no signs or symptoms of the disease.”

He said the facility (mammogram) was available at the Centre for Nuclear Medicine on the premises of the Mayo Hospital but this was being run by the federal government.

“It is matter of grave concern that the government had provided chemotherapy or radiography facility at some health institutions for cancer patients but ignored the surgical services for the patients visiting there in early stage of the disease,” Prof Cheema said.

He said the proper treatment of the patients was early diagnosis and surgery and not chemotherapy or radiography.

He said in order to create awareness the surgery department of the KEMU would organise a walk and a seminar in collaboration with Pink Ribbon on Saturday (today). The walk would be held from Patiala Block of the KEMU to The Mall, he added.