By Cathy Maulidi:
Unites States Ambassador to Malawi David Young has described breast cancer as a cause for concern in Malawi and the world as a whole.
Young said this on Saturday after taking part in a big walk aimed at raising awareness on breast cancer and raising funds to be used for supporting patients, offering screening services and other things.
“Everyone, including men, have to be concerned about cancer. My mother had breast cancer and was a survivor. She lived 10 more years with breast cancer and died of other causes. Because she went through this experience, she made sure no one else in the family went through the same experience.
“So, she encouraged [everyone to go for] frequent screening. I share this story with everyone here to understand the importance of frequent screening. Early detection helps deal with cancer,” Young said.
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Health Minister Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda joined the big walk with her hair completely shaved to show solidarity with cancer patients who lose their hair.
She said breast cancer can attack both men and women.
“Breast cancer is among the top four cancers mostly affecting women in Malawi. As such, this awareness [campaign] is very important considering that cancer is a dangerous disease.
“Cancer is very difficult to deal with but, if detected in good time, it is easy to manage. There are so many people who have managed to control it because of early detection and this is why we are encouraging frequent screening for people to know their status,” Kandodo Chiponda said.
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Non-State actor Think Pink organised the big walk and used the occasion to remember founder Brandina Kondowe, who succumbed to breast cancer in 2020 after a long battle with it.
Co-founder of the organisation Eleanor Nkosi said Malawi has made some progress, in terms of cancer screening.
“In 2014, Brandina started this. It was just an idea. She wanted to bring attention to breast cancer issues. She had gone through her own journey to India but knew that many women wouldn’t afford that. All she wanted was for the authorities to start looking at breast cancer as an important issue.
“Now I’m happy that we are working together with the Ministry of Health. We are doing outreach clinics and have screened over 5,000 women in the last 10 years and out of those 5,000 women, we found that 100 women had cancer and have helped them get treatment,” Nkosi said.
