Africa-Press – Angola. The Vice-President of the Republic, Esperança da Costa, defended, this Thursday, in Luanda, the adoption of urgent measures for prevention, control and universal access to new technologies for the treatment of breast and prostate cancer.
When speaking at the opening ceremony of the “Meeting of Reflection on Pink October Blue November”, whose motto is “United in the Prevention against Breast and Prostate Cancer, the minister considered psycho-social support for patients essential.
According to Esperança da Costa, prevention and early detection are fundamental for control, having highlighted that the country faces a major public health challenge with the increase in chronic non-communicable diseases, mainly cancer.
According to the Vice-President, cancer is a public health problem of great global concern, which is why its prevention, early diagnosis and timely treatment constitute a priority in the Angolan Executive’s strategy.
He highlighted that, in addition to pain, suffering and mourning, the disease seriously compromises the country’s expectations of socioeconomic growth and prosperity.
From their point of view, early detection of breast cancer, in order to guarantee the survival of affected women, is essential for controlling the disease, using mammography, a highly effective means of diagnosis but considered to be expensive, and /or clinical breast examination and self-examination.
“It is therefore important to disseminate the initial signs and symptoms of breast cancer, both to health professionals and to women themselves, so that they can undergo timely diagnosis and treatment”, he warned.
Regarding prostate cancer, he recalled that prevention and control are possible, but to do so it is necessary to promote and encourage men to recognize the need to seek health services to carry out periodic screenings.
“It turns out that an incomprehensible lack of attention to the disease, combined with the delayed and prejudiced resistance to physical examination, still keeps mature men far from routine assessments that can diagnose the problem early and preserve the lives of many citizens”, he said.
He recalled that the Executive annually joins the global Pink October and Blue November movement, which are crucial in raising awareness among women and men about the prevention, early diagnosis and treatment of these types of cancer.
Last October, he said, several promotion and prevention activities were developed, together with civil society and partners, with emphasis on lectures, conferences, distribution of informative material, in order to alert women about the importance of preventive exams and screening of breast cancer.
The Vice-President of the Republic stated that the world today has scientific knowledge that shows that 1/3 of all cancers can be prevented, and prevention is the best long-term strategy and presents the best cost-benefit ratio for the disease control.
Organized by the Ministry of Health, in partnership with the National Commission to Combat HIV-AIDS and Major Endemic Diseases (coordinated by the Vice-President of the Republic) and the National Oil and Gas Agency (ANPG), the reflection meeting on Pink October and Blue November” aims to raise awareness among the population about the importance of early diagnosis of cancer.
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