Worldwide, breast cancer is the leading type of cancer among women and has recently been seen as the widespread killer of women. It is now responsible for 40 percent of the cancer among women. It has gone up at least four times in 2010. In 2012 it resulted in 1.68 million cases and 522,000 deaths. In most cases of breast cancer, the cankerworm would have spread wide before anything can be done. Five to 10 breast cancer cases are due to genes inherited from a person’s parent while a considerable percent is got from the risk factors in the environment such as irregular rest, unhealthy diet, and exposure to harmful substances which most busy people are guilty of. Breast cancer is now widely spread like malaria, but the response is far lower than that of malaria as an illness. The response to breast cancer awareness is rather low as most women will rather not create time to go to the nearest health centre for check-up and screening like they will for any other illness. They will claim it is a waste of time. The preventive measures are not known to most people like those of malaria. It is known that one out of 25 women in Nigeria is killed by breast cancer and 25 percent of the breast cancer cases are reported early while 75 percent rather late.
There has been balance of benefits versus harm of screening. According to Wikipedia, a 2013 Cochrane review stated if it is unclear, mammography screening does more good than harm, but according to a 2009 review for the US preventive services task force, it found evidence of benefit of screening in women 40-70 years. Screening on its own is not easy to come by as it is followed by a huge cost which is not affordable for a rural woman. Also, the awareness of breast cancer is still below average as hospitals are the last port of call. Most women think it is when the cancer has come that you see a doctor; the need for regular screening is not being emphasized and as the cancer would be detected rather late, surgery would be the last resort. The survival rate of cancer in Nigeria is less than 10 percent. The ill-equipped hospitals contribute to this. Our unconcerned government has refused to equip our hospitals and many are compelled to go out of the country to get proper care. Even our tertiary hospitals can only treat to an extent and an average Nigerian will have to spend her life to treat cancer.
Specialists are found only in tertiary hospitals. Primary health centres lack medical officers who will mobilize and sensitize patients on breast cancer. With the rising rate of breast cancer in Nigeria and other developing countries, by 2020 it is projected that 16 million new cases will be diagnosed yearly out of which 70 percent will come from developing countries.
Although there are campaigns on breast cancer, much still has to be done as the cost of treatment is still high. Not only tertiary hospitals but also primary health centres need to be empowered to provide basic screening and diagnosis as well as treatment. The health system in Nigeria has to be restructured so as to cater for all and sundry. The cost to be paid for screening and check-up should be one that will not shake the pockets of people. Health-care officers should be positioned at all health centres and, if possible, breast cancer treatment centres should be available in states. Health-care officers should be trained to sensitize people about check-up and screening in order to prevent breast cancer as this is also part of treatment; if detected early, it can save life as well as cost.
Organisations and religious bodies should be encouraged to sensitize and check their members and also give funds for their members who need treatment. There should be campaigns and initiatives organised not in a particular area but in both rural and urban areas so as to bring breast cancer awareness to all. It is not only when the cancer is detected but early check-up also makes treatment less expensive.
ADEBIYI OLUWATEMILORUN
