Awareness week highlights risk factors leading to breast cancer

The Sultanate is taking part in the Gulf Breast Cancer Awareness Week along with other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries which started on Monday. The awareness week (February 1-7) is dedicated to promoting health awareness about risk factors leading to breast cancer.

The Oman Breast Cancer Society (OBCS), in line with the Gulf Federation for Cancer Control in Kuwait and the Gulf Centre for Cancer Control and Prevention in Riyadh, is celebrating the event under the theme ‘40 per cent Protection and 40 per cent healing’

Dr Adil al Ajmi, Head of

Oncologic Surgery Unit in Sultan Qaboos University and President of OBCS, said the awareness week aims at integrating media messages within the systems of the GCC countries as well combining efforts and taking appropriate decisions to combat the disease, which requires intense scientific awareness based on scientific facts, updates and scientific research outcomes in cancer medicine.

The slogan of the week ‘40/40’ indicates that 40 per cent of cancer diseases can be prevented by following a healthy lifestyle, adopting correct dietary habits, practicing regular physical activity and maintaining ideal body weight, while the other 40 per cent represents the increased recovery percentage from the disease if detected early.

Activities of the week will include health awareness lectures and walkathons along with a breast cancer awareness day.

Dr Al Ajmi made emphasis on the significance of such campaigns due to increasing rates of breast cancer cases locally and globally. Awareness highlights the disease’s nature, health services available in Oman, in addition to the importance of prevention and early detection.

“Given the disease statistics in many countries, Oman is the least affected. However, most of the cases in the Sultanate are in advanced stages,” he said.