70% of women present stage III,IV of breast cancer
Lesedi Mkhutshwa | Wednesday October 20, 2021 14:34
He was speaking during a breast cancer awareness campaign held under the theme; ‘Give Hope Save Lives.’The event was organised by the Fighters Support Group, in Francistown recently.
Breast cancer remains the leading cancer globally causing the most significant morbidity and mortality amongst women.
Dr Chiyapo stated that more women go to health facilities when their cases have reached stage III and 1V respectively. This he said meant that it is crucial to arm them with appropriate information in order to make informed decision to ensure that they timely visit health facilities.
He added that countless lives were lost unnecessarily due to misinformed and unguided decisions taken by some patients as well as systemic delays in the health system.
Breast cancer remains the second leading cancer amongst women after cervical cancer in Botswana.
He that dded: “Between 2003 and 2017 over 1,976 breast cancer cases were recorded with the Botswana National Cancer Registry representing almost 17% of all the reported female cancer. In the same period 19% of the reported cases succumbed to the disease.”
He added that from the time of reporting until 2019 over 24,000 cases of cancer have been recorded in Botswana.
The medic indicated that the number amounts to an average of between 1200 and 1800 new cases every year.
He pointed out that it is proven that through simple measure like promoting self –awareness amongst women can reduce the burden of breast cancer.