Today does not only mark the start of October, but also the month dedicated to breast care awareness, a month when women are reminded to check their breasts regularly. Because the survival rate for the disease increases the earlier a tumour is found and treated.

The bare truth is that one woman in every 10 is affected by breast cancer at some time in her life. Within the European Union a case of breast cancer is diagnosed every two minutes, and a woman succumbs to the disease every six minutes.

An average of 200 women are diagnosed with breast cancer every year in Malta. A total of 71 women died from the disease last year.

Saint James Hospital started its annual breast awareness campaign yesterday, urging women to be more breast-aware.

Maria Deguara, the Health Minister's wife, and a doctor herself, said that while statistics show that breast cancer in women is on the increase, it is also true that women are responding better to treatment and are living longer.

"It all revolves around how early you catch it and when treatment is started," she said during a press conference at Freedom Square, Valletta.

Saint James Hospital Group chairman, Josie Muscat, reiterated that modern medicine gives great importance to prevention and early treatment. He pointed out that women over the age of 50 have a heightened risk of contracting the disease, and it is therefore imperative for over 40-year-olds to be more careful.

The press conference was followed by a walk along Republic Street during which women were handed a flower and a leaflet informing them of an offer by Saint James Hospital.

The hospital is offering women a breast scan at the reduced price of Lm19 throughout the month of October, together with a free makeover by Revlon. This is the second consecutive year that the private hospital is making this offer, and Dr Muscat said five of the women who took up this offer last year were found to have breast cancer and treated for it.

"Such campaigns are crucial to raise awareness," Dr Deguara emphasised, adding that breast cancer is no longer a certain death sentence. She stressed the importance that every woman learns how to check her breasts and also that the incidence of breast cancer is reduced in those women who breastfeed.

Apart from increasing the chances of survival, earlier detection and diagnosis also reduced morbidity, since the treatment may be less aggressive and the chance for a permanent cure and breast preservation is increased.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.