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For decades, breast cancer has been wreaking havoc on millions of women around the world. If we compare it with the pandemic, the only difference is that it does not attack en masse, nor is it contagious. However, it is the cause of a large number of deaths each year. Ecuador does not escape from this reality. According to him Ministry of Health, about 28,000 new diagnoses are added each year and the figure seems not to stop.
It is worrying to see how, despite the fact that there is a lot of information about breast cancer, many women still do not take a moment to detect it in time. It is important to highlight that this problem not only embraces women but that there has been an increase in cases of men.
You may also be interested in our article: Covid-19 has affected treatment services for Noncommunicable Diseases
The numbers of breast cancer in Ecuador
According to figures from Ministry of Public Health (MSP), In Ecuador, 56,022 visits for breast cancer have been registered so far between 2017 and August 2020, corresponding to 7,117 women with this diagnosis.
If we dig a little more about the records of the International Cancer Research CenterIn Ecuador, 28,058 new cases of cancer were diagnosed in 2018, 12,782 were men and 15,276 were women.
In the case of women who are registered as new cases, there is an incidence rate of 31.8 affected per 100,000 inhabitants, according to the latest global figure available. The MSP has declared itself in the fight against this silent pandemic and is implementing strategies so that all women in Ecuador do their self-exams on time. Or in some cases they have a chance to detect breast cancer early.
The oncologist responsible for the management in the Eugenio Espejo Hospital of Specialties of QuitoAhmad Wali Mushtaq explained that a large number of diagnosed women “have a good prognosis with 5-year survival rates of 80% to 90%.”
Today, and regarding the Covid-19 health contingency, it has become even more evident that cancer is a silent pandemic that requires that families living with this disease must take extreme care and protection, regardless of confinement measures, job losses and social overcrowding they must face.
There are many families in the world that are fighting with their women to ensure that they do not miss their treatments, attend health centers, obtain medications, continue their education and rehabilitation.
Not very encouraging ascent
In the country, breast cancer ranked eleventh as a cause of death in women in 2019, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INEC).
On February 4, during the talk on the occasion of the World Cancer Day, WHO cautioned that, should current trends continue, there will be a 60% increase in cancer cases in the world over the next two decades.
The largest increase (81%) in the number of new cases will occur in low- and middle-income countries, where survival rates are currently the lowest.
- Material aimed only at Health professionals.
- Information made for health professionals in Ecuadorian territory.
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