Concerns have been raised over the emergence of breast and cervical cancer as the leading causes of death for women in Fiji. Cancer respects no one irrespective of age, gender, religion or ethnicity. In Fiji Cervical cancer tops list followed by breast, uterus or the baby bag, and ovary which carries the eggs. Other cancers are skin, prostrate in men, large intestine, stomach, lung, liver and blood cancer.
“There are a lot of theories on cervical cancer and we have vaccination to prevent it. Cervical cancer is the most common cancer in the country right now and we have a good screening program to control it,” said Dr Tukana.Once it gets in the blood and spreads, then it's too late and it’s hard to stop. We can avoid getting cancer and we can also die without having any diseases.
Breast cancer is like a taboo in Fiji. There is a need for women to come out. In Fiji many are of the mentality that once a person is diagnosed with cancer they would die.
A lot of counselling is needed for women. The culture has been such that it is a taboo to discuss the reproductive organs but the awareness is out. Women with breast cancer need to be empowered and supported by their partners, families, friends and medical practitioners so that they are able to make decisions which change their lives completely, but also give them a chance to claim back their lives.It is important for people to keep talking about it until it sinks in.
Men also need to be involved, they need to encourage their partners to go and have regular checks. Everyone should take advantage of the free services and get a pap smear done and maybe get the help they need. it could even be a matter of life and death for some people. What is important though is the need for each one of us to remove the fear that has long been associated with cancer. It starts with encouragement for women to be part of this exercise. It is very important that women are pro-active.
Change your lifestyle. I believe that people can avoid getting cancer by eating the right food, sleeping well and avoiding smoking and excessive alcohol. They should also avoid industrially processed food and barbecued meat.
Greater awareness needs to be created to ensure health services for women are available, accessible and affordable through the public health service.A positive note is the fact that research has advanced treatment options that can extend a woman's life. This will, however, depend on early detection
This is a very informative blog. You have shed light on some of the issues that people in our country generally would not want to talk but I think that recently there has been lot of breast cancer awareness and now the perspective of the men are changing in regards to women and breast cancer. You also wrote about the treatment but you did not mention any of the treatment methods or if the facilities are available in Fiji. Also there are no mention of the health services available to women in the country and where they are located if someone needs a check. One more thing, breast cancer inmen is on the rise as well.
ReplyDeleteI think that this is a very important topic for both women and men. It is truly amazing the number of things that can be done to avoid cancer and even more amazing the fact that people are too lazy to change their lifestyles to save their lives.
ReplyDeleteWe need to stop living by that notion that life short, so we should live it to the fullest. More awareness needs to be done so that the younger generation will not repeat this cycle. Are we going to wait till we lose a loved one to recognize how serious this is?
A very informative blog and a gold star for picking this topic.
Should be "tops the list." Who is Dr Tukana? You have to introduce that quote a bit better. Your block quote is only three lines. The whole entry is a bit short. Take up the extra white space.
ReplyDeleteThankyou anonymous for writing this blog, this is a good issue to blog about, especially when it concerns women and men's lives.
ReplyDeleteMy father who had just passed away early this year had prostate cancer and I still miss him, because I used to care for him at home.
He passed away at the age of 81. Now that he is gone my mum used to tell me the story of my father's humble beginnings when he was a young boy and they used to go fishing everyday without even having breakfast.
There was no woman around to cook their food because he lived with his brother's so they use to have chillies and cassava as part of their meal, until they were fortunate enough to get a couple of fish.
So my advice to everybody is do not ever go out any where with an empty stomach especially in the morning, you can skip lunch and dinner but not breakfast and because you will need something in your stomach to keep your digestive system working and give life to your body.