In Nicaragua every day, about three women are diagnosed with breast cancer (BCa). National statistics compiled from public and private care centers revealed that at the national level for the year 2012, an average of about 950 new cases were detected. And this might not be news if we lived in the year 2030, because for that year the International Agency for Research on Cancer of the World Health Organization (IARC/WHO) has estimated that it will be precisely the number of women who will annually debut with this type of cancer
Without a doubt, our reality has far exceeded the predictions of this international health agency. In other words, the future has already caught up with us and places us in a scenario of disastrous proportions in terms of public health by the year 2030.
Although breast cancer (BCC) is the most frequent malignant tumor and the main cause of cancer death in women in the world. In Nicaragua, it continues to rank second because cervical cancer continues to be the main cause of disease and mortality in economically active women (950 cases of CaMa vs. 1,193 cases of CC) in such a way that we have gone from a rate incidence (new cases) due to BC from 21 x 100,000 women in 2002 to a rate of 31.5 x 100,000 in 2012.
Among the causes that contribute to this type of increase is the lack of education on Sexual and Reproductive Health issues aimed at the prevention of associated cancers, but also lifestyles such as sedentary lifestyle, poor nutrition or a diet based on mainly in sugars and fat, and what about the use of tobacco?
The Youth and Smoking in the Americas study conducted by PAHO/WHO (2009) in Nicaraguan school populations revealed that 17% of women experimented with cigarettes before 10 years of age. 51.1% of young women reported being in daily contact with active smokers, and 84% of the respondents reported having smoked at least one cigarette in the last 5 days prior to the survey (78.5% Men).
TRAPPED, BUT NOT WITHOUT OUT:
For MINSA, Movicáncer and the Cooperation Organizations, dedicating one day a year (October/19) to breast cancer is an opportunity to highlight specific messages related to the early detection of breast cancer. An opportunity that allows the health message to go out into the streets and reach all citizens, women, men, children and young people.
Breast Cancer (BCC) and Cervical Cancer (CCU) are responsible for disability in thousands of Nicaraguan women, disability that leaves serious consequences in their lives and in those of their families, because in the worst case, thousands of boys and girls Nicaraguans are orphaned and whose development can be truncated forcing them to leave school. All because of a Cancer that is detected early can be curable, with a minimum cost for Women and the Nicaraguan Health System.
This is what this year’s campaign is all about: “Don’t let breast cancer leave a mark on your path”. We want to encourage you to take control of your health by examining your Breasts regularly as the first action to defeat this type of cancer and regularly visit your nearest clinic or Health Center in order to detect, through the Clinical Breast Examination and Mammography, any alarm signal that translates into the care of your health.
We are grateful for the generous support of the American Cancer Society, the Pan American Office in Nicaragua (PAHO/WHO), MINSA, the Central American University, CIES-UNAN, and the Association of Mastology in Nicaragua for joining in this day of heart, “a day that will leave a positive mark on your path.
Bibliography consulted:
globocan.iarc.fr/pages/burden_sel.aspx
CaMa-MINSA (ONE) 2012 statistics.
INSS Statistical Yearbook 2012.
Breast cancer in Latin America and the Caribbean: morbidity, mortality and burden of disease Preliminary version 1. January, 2009.
