Stigma preventing early breast cancer treatment

Bengaluru: In the year 2015 around 1.55 lakh new cases of breast cancer was reported in India and about 76,000 women died. In many cases the stigma associated with the disease and the reluctance to undergo mammography tests often prevents the early detection and treatment of the disease.

On Sunday a health camp was conducted by the Gundu Rao Memorial Trust and Lions club in Subhashnagar ward, which includes areas around  Majestic, and it proved that even in cities this stigma is very strong. Many women, especially from economically weaker sections, were not ready to undergo mammography test.

According to Tabu Rao, one of the trustee of the Gundu Rao Memorial Trust, as part of the health camp arrangements were made for mammography. "Women had attended the health camp in large numbers, but most of them were not ready to undergo mammography. We found it extremely difficult to convince them. We need to send them personally," she said. "After the mammography, experts advised a young woman to undergo more tests.

She immediately started crying and it was very difficult to console her,' she explained. "Generally people fear undergoing tests, thinking they may have some health issues. They also feel the cost of treatment will be unaffordable. We meet a lot of patients who need medical care in these medical camps. During this time also we came across a patient, who need a pacemaker for his heart.

However, he was not in a position to pay. Now we are trying to get funding from trust and other agencies to help him," she said. "Demonetisation has hit the poor very hard. We work at ground level among the poor and are witnessing how this has affected their day to day life,"she added.