Hospitals to raise Cancer Awareness

Monday, 17 September 2007
By Adel Al-Malki
A CAMPAIGN to raise awareness on the early detection of breast cancer will be mounted by the King Saud Hospital and King Fahd Hospital in Jeddah next month.
Iman Baroom, head of the organizing committee, said billboards will be put up along main roads, atop the biggest buildings, and in front of stoplights. Books and posters will be distributed in clinics, hospitals, schools and universities. A projector that flashes messages about the disease will be put up in the Jeddah fountain area.
The campaign will utilize SMS, include commercial spots to be aired over some satellite channels, and slogans on some food products.
A seminar on how health practitioners are to deal with and administer treatment to breast cancer patients was attended by more than 20 nurses at the Al-Hamra's Clinic Center.
The importance of using the mammogram for early detection of breast cancer was highlighted.
According to the MInistry of Health, there are 5,541 cases of breast cancer in the Kingdom. The annual total cost of treatment per patient is SR500,000.
Baroom said that most women hesitate to check if they have breast cancer until the disease has reached the stage when it is no longer treatable.
A study by King Abdulaziz Hospital in Jeddah show that the highest incidence rates of breast cancer in the Kingdom are in the eastern province, Riyadh, the Makkah region, Tabuk and Al-Qassim.
The same study shows that women who breast-feed and bear children frequently are less prone to breast cancer.