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Samina Alvi

Women urged self-examination every month to detect breast cancer

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cancer
  • She said 44,000 deaths due to breast cancer in Pakistan.
  • Samina Alvi mentioned world overall had 98%  recovery rate.
  • Lt Gen (retd) Nigar Johar said one in eight women died of breast cancer.

RAWALPINDI: Begum Samina Alvi, wife of the president of Pakistan said a five-minute self-examination every month could help detect breast cancer at an early stage, thus saving thousands of the lives of women in the country.

She said 44,000 deaths due to breast cancer in Pakistan was an alarming situation that needed raising constant awareness about early diagnosis of the disease.

Speaking at an awareness seminar on breast cancer here at Behbud Association of Pakistan, Rawalpindi, she stressed the need to sensitize the general public about shunning the taboo about breast cancer.

Samina Alvi mentioned that the world overall had a 98 percent recovery rate from breast cancer, however, pointed out that in Pakistan, insufficient mammographic facilities led to a high mortality rate due to the detection of malignancy at a late stage.

She said women of all ages including teenage girls of 12-14 years were also being diagnosed with breast cancer. She urged the women and girls to learn the five-minute routine of self-examination and spread the word among at least 20 other women folks in their circle.

For the Behbud Mother and Child Hospital, Samina Alvi announced a donation of Rs 500,000 on behalf of her family.

Samina ALvi also emphasized the need to focus on the inclusiveness of persons with disabilities, and mental health and ensuring a harassment-free environment for women.

She called for accommodating the differently-abled persons with facilities of education and employment and mainstreaming them in society.

Lt Gen (retd) Nigar Johar, the country’s first three-star woman general in the Pakistan Army who belonged to the Army Medical Corps, said one in eight women died of breast cancer in the world, which was a scary figure.

She said the health services of Pakistan were focused on reducing breast cancer mortality by 25 percent as per the global health goal of the World Health Organization (WHO).

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100,000 breast cancer cases diagnoses every year in Pakistan

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cancer
  • He said 35,000 could not survive due to detection of disease at late stages.
  • President said diagnosis of breast cancer at stage 1 had higher survival rates.
  • He called for educating women on how to conduct monthly self-examinations.

ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi  said more than 100,000 women in Pakistan were diagnosed with breast cancer every year, of which 35,000 could not survive due to detection of the disease at late stages. He said the diagnosis of breast cancer at stage 1 had higher survival rates compared to stages 3 and 4 of the disease.

In an interactive session with journalists of print and electronic media here at the Aiwan-e-Sadr, the president along with his wife Samina Alvi stressed breaking social taboos about breast cancer and the importance of the media’s role in sensitizing the general public.

He emphasized a preventive rather than curative approach as the government lacked ample resources to bear the unaffordable costs of medical treatment including the scanning and oncology procedures of breast cancer. He called for educating women on how to conduct monthly self-examinations to locate an abnormal nodule and not to hesitate to seek urgent medical help.

President Alvi recalled that last year, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority on his suggestion relayed 120 million call-waiting messages about breast cancer. He urged the journalists to join the cause of fighting breast cancer by highlighting the topic in their write-ups and television programmes.

He mentioned that he and Samina Alvi for the last five years had been raising consistent awareness campaigns on breast cancer from the platform of the Presidency. He stressed continuity in policies on health and education despite changes in governments to ensure a healthy and balanced society. He also emphasized focusing on health courses of short duration to produce a larger number of healthcare workers to cater to the needs of the population.

Begum Samina Alvi lauded the media for effectively highlighting the subject in their television programmes and newspapers. She said the campaign should not be restricted to the month of October and be continued throughout the year. She also urged sensitization of the male members of the family to enable them realize the sufferings attached to the disease and support women to get proper medical care.

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President for integrating differently-abled in regular school system

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President for
  • He said the system should accommodate these children.
  • Addressing the 5th Cerebral Palsy Conference here at PIMS.
  • Dr Alvi said physically and mentally challenged children needed care.

KARACHI: President Dr Arif Alvi on Friday stressed an inclusive approach towards the persons with disabilities in all areas of life particularly education to help them make active members of society.

Except for a few mental disorders, he said, the system should accommodate the differently-abled children in regular schools and provide tailor-made jobs to them in accordance with their skill set.

Addressing the 5th Cerebral Palsy Conference here at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), he said physically and mentally challenged children needed care and empathy from the society and also the readiness to accept them as any other child.

Cerebral palsy is a group of disorders that affect a person’s ability to move and maintain balance and posture.

President Alvi said the persons with physical, visual and hearing impairment had the same intellectual capacity as other people and thus needed support by the society to help them function better.

The president emphasized raising awareness in the society to be empathetic towards the persons with physical and mental weaknesses.

He regretted that the children with cerebral palsy are often stereotyped and called for shunning taboos affiliated with them.

He mentioned that First Lady Samina Alvi through awareness campaigns put her best efforts in highlighting the cause of persons with disability besides stressing facilities for them at public places.

President Alvi said training of doctors was very important for taking curative measures, adding that good professional training with the help of technology could help the health experts play their due role in mainstreaming the persons with disabilities.

The president recalled that the country’s visually-impaired diplomat Saima Saleem effectively represented Pakistan at the United Nations and delivered a speech using braille.

He also laid focus on preventive treatment to reduce rate of malnutrition, stunting and maternal mortality. In this regard, he said, educating the masses and the role of midwives was important.

President Pakistan Academy of Cerebral Palsy Professor Javaid Iqbal said cerebral palsy affects two out of 1,000 children and causes multiple physical, mental and other problems.

Executive Director PIMS Muhammad Naeem Malik said PIMS since its inception was providing treatment to the people and approximately one million people annually get treatment in the hospital.

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Make breast cancer topics part of higher education curriculum: First Lady Samina Alvi

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First Lady Mrs Samina Arif Alvi has said that there is a great need to make breast cancer topics part of the syllabus of higher education to contain the deadly disease among women. Addressing an awareness seminar at Shakir Ali Auditorium of the National College of Arts (NCA) on Thursday, she said young women need … Read more

Samina Alvi for empowerment of women through IT

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Samina Alvi

KARACHI, Oct 17 (APP):First Lady Samina Alvi on Sunday stressed the need for the empowerment of the women through Information Technology (IT) so that they could meet their financial needs and help their families by working at home. She said that the world had become a global village and the Information Technology had provided a … Read more

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