Breast Cancer is one of the major causes of death around the world. Pakistan is the leading country in Asia to have encountered most cases of breast cancer. Around 40000 out of 90000 cases registered annually reportedly survive. One in nine women in Pakistan is likely to fall prey to this disease reportedly in 2008. But awareness about breast cancer is the only way to prevent it from causing deaths. Timely detection and diagnosis is the key to 90% chances of cure and survival. However, in the case of Pakistan, awareness of early diagnosis has been very challenging and less effective.
Reasons Contributing To Less Awareness Of Early Diagnosis Of Breast Cancer In Pakistan
Psycho-sociological beliefs about breast cancer
It is in recent times that breast cancer is considered a disease and is talked about. Otherwise, 20 years ago it was hard to even talk about ‘breast’ cancer because it was a taboo. According to a study conducted in 2017, around 10% of women chose for no diagnosis due to religious reasons and to prevent any impact on their marriage. Embarrassment and fear of divorce in women still force them to stay quiet about any symptoms of breast cancer.
Little information lead to misconceptions
about breast cancer in Pakistan
Many people don’t know that breast cancer is a curable disease and its timely detection can save lives. It remains untreated until it actually becomes severe in later stages to cause death. A study conducted by PIMS, Islamabad, affirms that there is a lack of awareness in rural areas of Pakistan that lead to the possibility of higher risks. It is also a misconception that breast cancer incidence only occurs in women. Men are also likely to get this disease in the same way as women.
Lack of education leads to less or no information about breast cancer in Pakistan
Education plays a great role in enlightening the masses about topics least discussed otherwise due to socio-cultural reasons. Pakistan has a lower literacy rate with the majority of the population living in underprivileged and rural areas. Thus breast cancer is less known to the majority living in rural areas of Pakistan.
Lower health budget refrains required spending on breast cancer awareness campaigns in Pakistan
Pakistan spends less than 1% of its income on health. This is surprisingly low and adds to the lack of awareness campaigns throughout Pakistan including remote and rural areas. Training the lady health workers alone to spread awareness about early detection through self-examination and mammography requires a lot of finance.
Barriers to information transfer lead to less effective awareness of breast cancer in Pakistan
As we witnessed in the case of Covid-19, the government took measures and utilized the call service messages to make people aware of the virus. We see that in the month of October, the government spread awareness about breast cancer in the same way. But if we look closely, most of the men in rural areas are not familiar with Urdu and nor are they familiar with the terminologies to understand the message. They are most likely to ignore it. Further, women in rural areas do not keep phones as a cultural norm. Hence the effectiveness of such efforts remains very low.
Constituents of breast cancer awareness campaigns and programs in Pakistan
- People need to be aware of the high incidence of breast cancer among females in Pakistan. It is so prevalent that everyone needs to self-examine themselves once a month. However, everyone should be informed to get clinical examinations annually and the government must make it accessible to the entire population of Pakistan.
- The government and NGOs must address and correct misconceptions about breast cancer. The government must well-inform people about the disease in order to prevent it from getting life-threatening. It is curable and people need to know this basic information to save their lives.
- Men are in need of attention as much as women with regard to this disease. Men are also likely to develop breast cancer and thus should be aware of the possibility before it’s too late.
- The genetic variability, environmental factors, and lifestyle add to the high incidence of this disease and hence people need guidance to adopt certain measures in order to avoid being inflicted.
- The socio-cultural factors are very saddening and alarming for the current state of the disease in Pakistan. Already there is a lack of awareness and the existing cultural and social stereotypes and notions are making the situation worse. People must be aware of the importance of taking care of their health. They must be clearly informed that this disease is like any other ailment that needs medical attention. Instead of making it a matter of social inacceptability, people’s lives must be prioritized.
How to make awareness campaigns more effective
- With the increasing use of social media and mass media, it is comparatively cheaper and easier to spread the word. But despite the fact that awareness campaigns are witnessed by the masses, yet only the urban population is exposed to them. The rural population remains uninformed and unaware of basic information about breast cancer. Rigorous efforts must be made to ensure that the rural population is well-informed about breast cancer and other such diseases that are curable.
- Responsible representatives from every rural area must be given the task of training a few women to inform every other woman.
- There should be free seminars and medical camps set up quarterly over the year to do clinical examinations of the underprivileged.
- Awareness messages must be transmitted in all prevalent and prominent languages of Pakistan in order to make sure reach-ability and comprehensibility of the message.
Hence we see that despite large-scale awareness campaigns, Pakistan still remains incapable of putting the message across the entire population. It is not the disease itself that is deadly, it is the lack of awareness that makes it one. It is right that prevention is better than cure and it is about time that we become proactive to save 40,000 human lives every year.
Urdu in Pakistan
