UAE | Health
Breast cancer still preys on women in the dark
Breast cancer awareness is still not high enough in the UAE despite current efforts, as many women are still discovering the disease at a later stage, says a leading expert on breast cancer.
- By Nina Muslim, Staff Reporter
- Published: 23:32 October 18, 2007
- Image Credit: Nina Muslim/Gulf News
- Dr Houriya Kazim, specialist breast surgeon at Well Woman Clinic says that about half of her patients does not check themselves regularly.
Dubai: Breast cancer awareness is still not high enough in the UAE despite current efforts, as many women are still discovering the disease at a later stage, says a leading expert on breast cancer.
Breast cancer is the No. 1 cancer in the UAE, killing 17 women in 2004, according to latest available statistics from the Ministry of Health. The figures are of UAE national women only and do not include expatriates.
Dr Houriya Kazim, specialist breast surgeon at Well Woman Clinic, told Gulf News that about half of her patients did not check themselves regularly.
"About half of the women I see do check themselves. Obviously they have checked themselves or they wouldn't be there. But what about the ones I don't see?" she said, adding that many had come with advanced stages of cancer.
She said it was important to continue awareness messages as many women have discovered they had breast cancer after hearing such messages.
Her most recent example was a middle-aged Indian woman who discovered she had breast cancer after her husband heard an awareness programme on Radio 2 99.3FM/106FM, part of Gulf News Broadcasting, on October 14.
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Dr Houriya said the couple did not seem to be very health-conscious. "But after [the husband] heard the interview on the radio, he told his wife to check her breast. And lo and behold, she felt a lump," she said. She said the man brought his wife in for a check-up at the clinic on Tuesday, where she did a physical examination and mammogram. She also took a sample from the wife for a biopsy, which confirmed the woman had breast cancer.
Dr Houriya said the awareness programme possibly saved the woman's life. "Inside, the tumour looks bigger. In her case, she would have presented very late. I really don't think she would have caught it for a while," she said.
Helen Jauber, the radio presenter who conducted the interview, was ecstatic when she found out she played a role in detecting the woman's breast cancer.
"The first thing that went through my mind was, 'I saved a life!"," she told Gulf News. "This was exactly what I wanted to do with the show - I wanted to make a difference," she added.
Have your say
What more can be done to encourage women to go for regular breast cancer check-ups? Do you know a survivor? Tell us about her tale of courage at letter2editor@gulfnews.com or fill in the comments form below.
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