Mumbai: Breast cancer cases have registered an alarming increase among younger Indian women aged between 25 and 50 with – tragically – 60% of these cases being diagnosed at advanced stages that reduce their survival rates considerably.
October is observed as +Breast Cancer Awareness+ month.
SBI Life Insurance – in its fifth year of its “Thanks-a- Dot” initiative – recently launched here an innovative tool to promote self-breast examination for women by using a ‘hot water bag’ with ‘special lumps engraved’ on it.
Ravindra Sharma, Chief of Brand, Corporate Communication & CSR, SBI Life Insurance, said “The lumps help women to experience how a real breast cancer lump would feel during self-examination, besides also training, educating and reminding Indian women about making self-breast-examination a regular habit and importance of early detection.”
Expressing SBI Life’s commitment to spreading this initiative far and wide — especially among the country’s rural areas, Sharma also urged all organisations to join this cause by producing and distributing these specially-designed bags +free-of-cost+ to their customers and employees – thus making this life-saving tool a part of every household alongside making self-breast examination a regular habit among Indian women.
Indian actress Mahima Chaudhry, who is a breast cancer survivor, narrated briefly her successful journey in battling this cancer and emphasized the importance of early detection.
Breaking down in tears as she began her narrative, the Bollywood filmstar said she was crying in happiness at having overcome this killer cancer in the face of its deadly strike, while also having to provide positive assurance to her worried child.
“I used to always do these tests but they always were negative for breast cancer. One day when they were found positive, I strangely felt no fear but prepared in battling it towards my successful recovery,” she said while reiterating the need for early detection and step-by-step treatment.
She also narrated the case of Hollywood star Angelina Jolie, who went in for breasts mastectomy since her family members too had died of breast cancer.
Devieka Bhojwani, Vice-President, Womens Cancer Initiative –Tata Memorial Hospital, recalled her encounter and success in overcoming this cancer 20 years ago when it was discovered in its early stages. However, those years also revealed a sad part of life among other cancer-struck women who queued in hospitals for treatment.
“I watched these women sitting sad and alone in the hospital and, on talking to them, I found that they—while having had been abandoned by their families to their own fate— still remained in hope for recovery.”
Furious over this discovery, Bhojwani vowed that when she got better, she would do everything possible to help these women in battling and overcoming breast cancer. She is now making such efforts as the Vice-President, Womens Cancer Initiative –Tata Memorial Hospital.
However, the need of the hour is to create awareness about breast cancer as these affected women “hide their (breast cancer) lumps” and come to the hospitals for treatment when it’s too late, she said while noting that SBI Life’s latest initiative would greatly help such women.
Oncologist Dr Nita Sukumar Nair said “We are catching up with the Western countries where one-in-eight women have breast cancer, while one-in-22 Indian women suffer from it due to lack of awareness.”
“Picking up symptoms early is important and, as we have reached a point of getting good survival rates, we are trying to teach women how to look for lumps in the breasts. Menstruating women should do a self-breast examination on the 10th day of periods, she said.
The speakers revealed statistics that showed 90% of breast cancer being caused due to genetics, ageing family history increasing risks, sedentary lifestyle, obesity, having children late in life and also not breast-feeding their babies, besides indulging in hormone replacement therapy.
