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Breast Cancer: a wake up call for Indian women

Breast cancer,a dreaded disease has got deadlier for the modern woman who with her late marriage,unhealthy eating and growing weight is becoming vulnerable to the illness.

Written by Agencies | New Delhi |
September 30, 2009 1:08:08 pm

Breast cancer,a dreaded disease has got deadlier for the modern woman who with her late marriage,unhealthy eating and growing weight is becoming vulnerable to the illness. Experts project breast cancer to strike approximately 2.5 lakh women in India by 2015.

“Breast cancer has overtaken cervical cancer to become the leading cause of cancer-related mortality among women living in metropolitan cities,” says the Indian Council of Medical Research which places incidence of the disease at 30-33 per 100000 women in urban India.

Smart government sponsored advertising that spreads awareness about self screening as well as timely checkups,which include mammographies and diet control,prove good safety mechanisms for early detection crucial to curb the spread of the curable disease,advise doctors.

“We have seen a considerable change in the level of awareness among women in semi urban and urban areas. Initially they were shy but when we told them about the gravity of the disease and the ease with which they can do a self exam,we found women losing their reticence,” says Isha Bhandari,ROKO Cancer an NGO which runs mobile cancer units across India.