Breast Cancer Awareness Month is celebrated each October to highlight the need to raise funds to fight a disease that kills more than 680,000 people every year.
In Lorient, France, a charity is taking a road trip across the country to spread awareness with 2CV roses that say “#Cancer … Tous concernés!” (#All interested).
Fundraising across Europe will take place throughout the month, but the fight for the cause will continue.
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented challenges for people affected by breast cancer, with fewer screenings due to fears of contracting the virus in hospitals, delays in both diagnosis and treatment, and thousands of women not are controlled.
In the UK, more than a million fewer women were screened for breast cancer between March and December 2020.
“We’ve seen a real drop in the number of women presenting and getting screened, so obviously that raises concerns about early diagnosis because it’s an essential part of tackling breast cancer in this country,” she said. Baroness Delyth Morgan, executive director of Breast Cancer Now, told Euronews.
“And then for some women who are receiving treatment, they have had to change their treatment. Others who normally would have had a mastectomy may now be seeing really significant delays to their reconstruction, which would normally be part of their treatment.”
“We are very concerned and we know that the NHS staff are working flat out to do their best. But what we really need is a really serious and significant investment from the government in the workforce and infrastructure so that we can get chest services. cancer doctors are really doing everything they can to meet this challenge, “he added.
Breast cancer is still the most common cancer in the world, according to the World Health Organization, but global research has brought many advances to breast cancer treatments.
“Here in the UK, we fund a significant amount of that research. Due to the pandemic, a lot of research had to be suspended, but people are working hard to put all of that into operation. So we are seeing progress, particularly in developing new treatments, new drugs, and new ways to deliver radiation therapy, “Morgan said.
But breast cancer survival rates differ from where you live in the world. Women from better developed countries have a higher probability of early detection than those from poorer and less developed countries.
“The disparity in access to screening and treatment is really huge between better developed countries and less developed countries, and even within specific countries you can see big differences,” cancer specialist Dr. Arafat Tfayli.
“It all depends on the socioeconomic level of the country.”
In countries where the economic situation is more difficult, such as Africa and in the countries of southern America, screening programs continue to have problems. There are also disparities between rural and urban areas.
“The sooner she lives in the capital, the less likely a woman will be screened for breast cancer.”
Doctors encourage women between the ages of 18 and 24 to examine their breasts for signs, as early diagnosis is key.
If women feel any lump in their breasts, doctors urge them to go for an immediate check-up. “This really makes a big difference in the outcome of this disease,” added Dr. Tfayli.
_See the full interviews with Euronews hosts Andrea Bolitho and Paul Hackett in the players above. _