QUETTA: Medical experts on Monday claimed that Pakistan has the highest number of breast cancer patients in Asia.

Speaking at a seminar at Sardar Bahadur Khan Women University, they said breast cancer claims lives of more than 40,000 women in Pakistan every year.

Quoting the data of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Medical University, the experts said approximately 90,000 new cases are diagnosed in Pakistan every year.

According to some reports, from 1998 to 2009 there were 10,924 cancer patients in Quetta and 10,000 cases from 2014 to 2017, and most of them were women suffering from breast cancer.

According to the World Health Organisation, the breast cancer represents 10 per cent of all cancers diagnosed worldwide. It constituted 22pc of all new cases in 2000, making it the most common cancer in females.

Speaking at the seminar, Adviser to the Chief Minister Bushra Rind said so many women in the country lost their lives just because of lack of awareness about breast cancer.

“Breast cancer is still considered a taboo in our society. But by creating awareness about the disease it can be controlled,” she said.

Ms Rind said: “We have to give confidence to the women and make them able to discuss their health issues freely with the doctor. Media can also play a very significant role in spreading awareness about the disease. Social media can also be used for this purpose.”

Vice Chancellor of Sardar Bahadur Khan Women University Rukhsana Jabeen said that breast cancer represented a significant health problem because a large number of individuals were affected by this disease.

“Thirty per cent of all cancers occur in the breast, making it the most commonly diagnosed female cancer,” the experts said and added that breast cancer was among top 20 causes of death in Pakistan.

They said women at advanced age, having middle class family background, higher body mass index and a high ratio of incomplete pregnancies were at significantly increased risk of breast cancer.

They underlined the need to create awareness about breast cancer in far-flung areas of the country, especially in Balochistan, where people were already facing lack of medical facilities.

Published in Dawn, October 29th, 2019