CAN launches breast cancer awareness campaign ‘You Deserve Our Attention’
KUWAIT: The National Campaign for Awareness of Cancer (CAN) launched a breast cancer awareness campaign under the slogan “You Deserve Our Attention”, coinciding with the International Month for the Awareness of Breast Cancer. The event was held under the patronage of the Chairperson of Kuwait Women Voluntary Society for the Service and Development of Society Sheikha Fadiya Al-Abdullah AlSalem Al-Sabah. CAN Chairman Dr Abdulrahman Al-Awadhi, Deputy Chairman Dr Ahmad Al-Saleh and board member Dr Hussa Majid Al-Shaheen were in attendance.
Sheikha Fadiya said she was happy to cooperate with CAN, which has vast experience in spreading awareness about cancer, adding that the social partnership between both sides will, without a doubt, benefit the Kuwait people. She said the society is also responsible for health awareness, and that “we should not place the entire burden on the government”, adding “the society should take the initiative, and out of this we move to participate in such activities. We must face this disease without fear, because the earlier it is discovered, the better are the recovery chances. We hope that breast awareness does not stop in October but should continue the whole year.”
Dr Abdulrahman Al-Awadhi lauded the cooperation between the society and CAN in this campaign. “I am pleased to see the society making this partnership and joining us in the struggle to make people aware. This is a great initiative, especially since the society is closer to women,” he said. He stressed that the “prevention is better than cure” principle applies to all diseases, particularly cancer, which the earlier it is discovered, the better are the recovery chances. He said CAN has succeeded in making big achievements in the field of awareness of cancers, as it was able to train more than 80,000 female secondary school students to self-examine, which is a big gain. It also saves the state a large amount of money, because breast cancer stays for a long time if it spreads in the body, adding CAN will keep training women. CAN Deputy Chairman Dr Khalid Ahmad Al-Saleh said registering cancer cases requires time and diligence, noting developed countries release statistics every several years. He said the latest official cancer statistics in Kuwait are from 2014, adding that the annual report from the Kuwait Center for Fighting Cancer for this year was received few days ago. The report indicates there is improvement in the recovery rate from cancer in general, and this is due to the improvement of early detection, which is something apt for breast cancer.
For a woman who comes for treatment during stage four of breast cancer, the recovery rate is not more than 20 percent, while if she comes in the first stage, chances of recovery are over 85 percent. Saleh said the report showed there is notable awareness activity, adding that what calls for optimism is that in early detection, there is no need for a mastectomy, so we must cooperate to spread the culture of early detection of this disease.
Dr Hussa Al-Shaheen said what distinguishes the activities of CAN throughout the year is that it has been expanding since its establishment and reaches all groups of people in all areas of Kuwait. It has contributed to raising the percentage of societal awareness about all types of cancer. She said the “You Deserve Our Attention” campaign is special because it touches the beating heart of the family, which is the woman, who if is in pain, the entire house is affected. We seek to increase the number of its activities and expand its presence to reach the largest number of women to make them aware of breast cancer.