Why Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Every year healthcare professionals and organisations dedicate this entire month to raising awareness and educating the public around important issues related to breast cancer.

It is October, you know what that means?

No, not Halloween… It’s #BreastCancerAwarenessMonth.

Have you ever wondered why everyone makes such a big fuss about it? There are lots of other equally devastating cancers that exist, but very few get a whole month dedicated to them.

Here are 11 reasons why #BreastCancerAwarenessMonth is so necessary:

• About 1.5 million women worldwide are diagnosed with breast cancer every year
• Breast cancer is the most diagnosed cancer in South African women
• In 2018, 14,097 South African women were diagnosed with breast cancer
• About a third of these women died from their breast cancer
• The death rates from early breast cancer are much LOWER than the death rates from advanced breast cancer
• There is strong scientific evidence that shows that if breast cancer is diagnosed in the early stages the chances of death are lowered significantly
• There is also strong scientific evidence that demonstrates that countries with good screening programs have a much lower breast cancer death rates
• EARLY DETECTION SAVES LIVES
• A woman’s breasts, unlike her colon or pancreas, are significantly linked to her femininity, our breasts are a symbol of our beauty, our matriarchy, our sexuality.
• The idea of not having breasts reaches deeper into our psychology than not having a gallbladder or colon.
• Breast cancer deeply impacts a woman’s reproductive life, her social life, her career, her self-esteem and her relationships.