Damascus-SANA
The campaign for early detection of breast cancer reached 165,000 women in the centers and hospitals of the Ministry of Health, during which more than 2,000 mammograms (mammograms) were performed within three weeks.
Assistant Minister of Health Dr. Razan Salouta attributed the campaign to a smaller number of women compared to the years 2018 and 2019 due to the Corona pandemic, which also affected the implementation of the 2020 campaign and the preoccupation of most health facilities with the pandemic response plan, stressing that the ministry provides free early detection services for breast cancer throughout the year.
The Director of the Reproductive Health Program, Dr. Alaa Arksousi, stated that the Ministry intensified its awareness-raising efforts during the campaign period on the importance of early detection of breast cancer and the definition of risk factors and ways to avoid them, in a central symposium organized by the Ministry of Health at the end of the campaign.
In turn, Director of Mental Health Dr. Amal Shakou stressed the need to pay attention to psychological support for a woman with breast cancer, especially at the beginning of the diagnosis, noting that the most prominent psychological disorders that appear on a cancer patient are anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, body image disorder, changes in behavior, and fears of relapse and death.
Resident Representative of the United Nations Population Fund, Iyad Nasr, affirmed the strategic partnership between the Fund and the Ministry of Health and its workers to educate women about the need for early detection of breast cancer.
The specialist in radiological diagnosis, Dr. Bashar Karkouch, presented in his lecture the radiological investigations used to diagnose breast lesions, including mammography, ultrasound, and magnetic resonance imaging, noting that international medical societies recommend conducting an annual mammographic survey for women over the age of forty, pointing out that women over the age of sixty Their breast density is low, which helps to detect breast tumors more accurately, while young women have a high density, and here the use of ultrasound is necessary.
For her part, the specialist in general and laparoscopic surgery, Dr. Sana Al-Abdul Rahim, said that breast surgery has developed very quickly and in a way that calls for optimism, as it is possible with rapid detection to remove only the tumor or a small area surrounding it, while it was previously excised the entire area, and it was one of the cruel and satisfactory operations for women.
It is noteworthy that the 2018 breast cancer early detection campaign reached more than a quarter of a million women, while the 2019 campaign reached 350,000 women.
Rama Rashidi and Malik Abdo
