Intensify awareness on early screening for breast cancer

RWANDA has recorded an increase in breast cancer cases over the last three years. According to statistics from the Health Ministry, in 2011 atleast 103 cases of the cancer were recorded countrywide. However, the level at which these cases are detected is crucial in managing or treating the cancer. Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in women worldwide. However, early screening to find cancers before they start to cause symptoms can help save lives. Screening for breast cancer refers to tests and exams used to find the cancer, in people who do not have any symptoms. Early detection means using an approach that lets breast cancer get diagnosed earlier than otherwise might have occurred. Breast cancers that are found because they are causing symptoms tend to be larger and are more likely to have already spread beyond the breast. In contrast, breast cancers found during screening exams are more likely to be smaller and still confined to the breast and can be managed. Most doctors feel that early detection tests for breast cancer save thousands of lives each year, and that many more lives could be saved if even more women and their health care providers took advantage of these tests. However for this to happen there is need for intensive sensitisation of women to screen for cancer even when they carry no symptoms. There is urgent need to raise awareness and to encourage women to go for early screening and testing for breast cancer especially in the rural areas where there is limited access to information on breast cancer.

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Intensify awareness on early screening for breast cancer