Ministry to screen all women for cancer free of charge
Over 7,000 female cancer patients reported every
year:
Nadira Gunatilleke
A total of 7374 female cancer patients are reported in Sri Lanka
every year and 1,925 suffer from cervical cancer while 1,846 suffer from
breast cancer. Twenty five per cent of female cancer patients have
breast cancer and 12.6 of them are cervical cancer patients, Healthcare
and Nutrition Ministry sources said.
The Ministry has decided to screen all Sri Lankan women for cancer
free of charge and as the first step, all school teachers will be
screened free of charge within six months.
This was revealed during a special discussion at the National blood
Centre yesterday with the participation of Healthcare and Nutrition
Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva, Ministry Secretary Dr.Athula
Kahandaliyanage, Director National Cancer Prevention Programme, Dr.
Yasantha Ariyaratne, WHO Representative to Sri Lanka,Dr.Agostino Borra,
UNFPA Representative to Sri Lanka, Baqi Lubna and several others.
Minister de Silva said he is ready to take any policy decision to get
an effective National Strategy on Cancer Prevention.
The cancer prevention programme implemented in Thailand is very
successful and cost effective. Similar programmes are on in India and
several Asian countries. In UK it is compulsory for all females who are
over 30 to undergo cancer screening.
At the moment about 65,000 Sri Lankan women undergo cancer screening
every year but this number should be 200,000 per year. A special
committee has been appointed to look into this matter under the
Chairmanship of Dr.Dula De Silva. |