A campaign encouraging women aged from 40 upwards to take breast cancer screening was launched by the Ministry of Health and t he Supporting Fund for Cancer Patients – Bright Future in Ho Chi Minh City on October 16.
Accordingly, the fund will coordinate with hospitals having cancer wards and family clinics in Hanoi, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh cities to provide free breast cancer screening for women from 40 years old.
The campaign, which aims to mark the 86th anniversary of the Vietnam Women’s Union and responds to the world month for breast cancer prevention, will run from October 22-November 12. It is expected to benefit about 10,000 women nationwide.
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| Medical personnel providing checkup to a woman |
Seminars and screenings will be also arranged in a number of agencies and enterprises to raise public awareness of preventing the disease.
Addressing the event, Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien highlighted the significance of the campaign and called on all Vietnamese women to join to early detect breast cancer.
Over the last three years, the campaign “for women, for the future” contributed to raising public awareness of breast cancer. By the end of 2015, about 16,000 women throughout the country were involved in breast screening campaigns.
Free screening registration can be made through website www.tamsoatungthuvu.vn or by calling to hotline 0888969695 or 0888966466 in working time as well as at hospitals joining the campaign.
In Vietnam, breast cancer is one of the top 10 most popular diseases among women. Some 11,000 new cases and 4,500 deaths caused by the disease are reported every year. In 2010, the country has over 12,500 cases and the figure is predicted to reach 22,600 by 2020.
Up to 80 percent of breast cancer cases can be treated successfully if they are diagnosed early. The ratio is 60 percent for the second stage and lower in the next stages.
Screening for early cancer detection right after women turn to the high-risk age of 40 is very significant for treatment, doctor recommended.
Source: VNA