Luanda – The President of the Republic, João Lourenço, on Tuesday showed solidarity with cancer victims.
In a message for the “Pink October” campaign, the Angolan Head of State appealed to the women of Africa, in general, and of Angola in particular, to regularly carry out early diagnosis, using self-examination and screening mammography, among other things, as a way of preventing the disease, whose probability of cure increases to 95% with timely and effective treatment.
“It is necessary to remain vigilant, making the practice of early diagnosis a tireless routine of awareness and reflection for life”, reads the message to which ANGOP had access.
The Angolan Statesman urges the schools, universities, churches and Non Government Organizations (NGO) to join synergies in order to stop the spread of breast cancer within families, institutions and society.
“It is with great honour that I join the noble cause of Pink October, aimed at raising awareness and educating the world about the risks, diagnosis and ways of preventing breast cancer, a degenerative disease that affects women and men all over the world”, said João Lourenço.
The Head of State makes the same appeal to men, taking into account that in accordance with data from World Health Organization (WHO) and Angolan Institute for the Fight Against Cancer (IACC), one percent of the total number of cases of breast cancer affects this section of the population.
“Each and everyone of us should be a promoter of excellence for prevention, diagnosis and treatment of this disease, which according to WHO it is a world public health problem and the second cause of women’s death, after cardiovascular diseases”, added the president.
Despite the fact that Angola recorded a significant reduction in the number of cases of the disease from 1492 to 2019 into 692, in the first half of 2022, the Head of State recognizes that there are still several challenges such as the spread of oncology services for all provinces, major investment in the specialised training of staff in oncology, as well as other political instruments.
According to WHO, the number of deaths by cancer changed from 6.2 million in 2000 to 10 million in 2020.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer points to an increase in new cases of breast cancer of about 50%.
Source: Angola Press News Agency