Princess Ghida launches regional breast cancer awareness campaign

AMMAN — Jordan is joining several Arab countries in an awareness campaign encouraging women to undergo screenings for early detection and diagnosis of breast cancer.

"The purpose of this campaign is to encourage women to do the screening and overcome their fears, while showing how early detection can help in ensuring better results including faster and cheaper treatment," Yasar Qutaiba, head of early detection unit at the King Hussein Cancer Centre, told The Jordan Times on Tuesday.

The 2017 Arab Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign, which was launched by HRH Princess Ghida, is organised by the Jordan Breast Cancer Program (JBCP) led by the King Hussein Cancer Foundation (KHCF). 

This year marks the 10th edition of the annual campaign and includes participating countries such as Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Palestine, Bahrain, Iraq, Egypt, Morocco and Algeria. 

At the launch of the campaign, Chairperson of the KHCF Princess Ghida, said: “Every mother in Amman, every daughter in Beirut, every sister in Jerusalem and every friend in Baghdad, Riyadh, Manama, Cairo, Rabat, Abu Dhabi and Algeria is our priority, and their health is our ultimate goal.”

“Today, I turn to every woman in every village, city and Arab country to ask her to reassure us and get screened,” the princess added. 

Stressing on the need for early detection, Qutaiba noted: "We started this annual campaign back in 2008 and we do it regularly to encourage more women to do the early screening."

"Unfortunately, in the past, most of the cases that were detected were in the third or fourth stage which means that the tumor is spreading and more difficult to treat… After all these campaigns, we have seen more women being detected in the second stage which is better and earlier," she said.

"There is no reason to be afraid. When breast cancer is found at an early stage, the results of treatment are better and the cost for treatment is cheaper," she stressed.

Around 5,400 breast cancer cases are recorded in Jordan every year. Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in Jordan, dominating 19 per cent of all cases, according to the King Hussein Cancer Centre (KHCC).

Official figures show that breast cancer cases diagnosed in stages three and four, as opposed to stages zero, one and two, have dropped from 70 to 35 per cent due to active awareness about the importance of early diagnosis.