OCTOBER
BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH Breast cancer survivors have tripled in the past 60 years
Why there is a need for a breast cancer program in India? Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in India. In 2020, an estimated 178,361 new cases of breast cancer and 90,408 deaths recorded. The 5-year survival rate is less than 60% and is mostly attributed to a lack of breast cancer awareness in the community and among health care providers. Suboptimal access to services for early detection of breast cancer resulting in latestage diagnosis, and inequitable access to quality treatment.
How is India tackling breast cancer?
Provides guidance for populationbased screening of all women aged 30 to 65 years for breast and cervical cancer. However, the gap is in operationalization and implementation of the program which have been observed to be slow and inconsistent.
What key strategies should breast cancer programs consider: To raise awareness, develop behavior-change communication materials, orient frontline health care workers, and integrate activities for breast health into community and primary health care programs. For early detection/screening at primary care level, include training of frontline health care workers, development of protocols, systematic integration of breast health care services at all public health systems. At diagnostic level, set up ‘single-window breast health care clinics’ with the presence of health experts, trained pathologist and laboratory technicians on specimen processing, free diagnostic services for suspected cases and referral tracking, streamlining the diagnostic and treatment pathways to improve efficiency and access for patients, availability of preliminary blood tests and staging investigations including chest x-ray and liver ultrasound. Track and follow-up patients across the care pathway and facility-level data should be compiled monthly for review by district/ state health authorities.