About 70 women were screened for breast and cervical cancers when the National Committee of Sisters Affairs (NACOSA) collaborated with the Cancer Institute of Guyana to organise a cancer camp last Sunday.
The event, held at Leonora, West Coast Demerara, was one in a series of camps that are being held around the country. Some women were referred for follow-up treatment.
The camp, which commenced eight years ago throughout the country, gives women the opportunity to benefit from early detection and treatment, according to NACOSA’s head, Aleema Nasir.
She said that there is a tendency in Guyana to only visit the doctors, when there are symptoms or when people become very sick. By then, she said, the cancer may have reached the third and fourth stage and it is already too late.
Dr Mujahid Ghazi sensitised the women about the different types of cancers and said they “do not see race or religion and can hit anyone at any time.”
He reiterated that “early detection saves lives” and urged the women to pass on the information to their “relatives, friends and neighbours so we can fight this monster together.”
