OPINION: A woman’s world and the burdens we share

By Dr. Aleesha Adatia,

On Women’s day, we always celebrate and advocate for progress in equality for women everywhere.

It’s also a commemoration and recommitment to the collective effort to advance that freedom and equality at every social, economic and political level. Healthcare is an important battleground.

Unfortunately, illness cannot be swayed or educated into fair distribution, and every sickness has those most susceptible to it. Cancer has affected almost everyone in the world, if not primarily, no less personally. In 2020, there were an estimated 19.3 million new cancer cases in the world and 10 million deaths.

Still, even in this global disease, women are disproportionately affected. If cancer is the global burden, it’s borne most heavily by women: the most common cancer in the world is  breast cancer

Disease burden in Uganda

 According to the Uganda Women’s Cancer Support Organization (UWOCASO) over 75% of breast cancer patients in the region present with late stage disease. The 5-year survival rate for patients with breast cancer has been shown in previous Ugandan studies to be 46–56%, compared to 87.7% in Sweden and almost 90% in the USA.

Although it is estimated the number of new cases in both sexes will rise in Uganda — from 34,000 cases in 2020 to 74,700 in 2040, with the number of cancer-related deaths rising from 23,000 to 51,500 for those same demographics — Uganda recorded similar spikes in cases in 2020, with 19,479 new cases of cancer in women.

Of those women, 35.7% were diagnosed with cervical cancer and 13.5% with breast cancer.

Still, whilst illness has not yet been persuaded to give women a break, medical care and research has advanced such that our awareness on how to treat and, better yet, prevent cancer — thus alleviating its burden on women — is better than ever and improving every day.

Cervical Cancer

Cervical Cancer requires a medical diagnosis, which is given when a doctor identifies a malignant tumour on the lowermost part of the uterus.

Most cervical cancer cases are detected when patients are between 35-44 years old. There are typically no symptoms, although there can be irregular bleeding or pain.

Though men can be diagnosed with breast cancer, cervical cancer affects women exclusively, and there are risk factors that can increase the likelihood of you being diagnosed, including your past medical and personal history: whether you have HPV, or the strength of your immune system, your smoking habits and contraceptive usage, your pregnancy history, socioeconomic status and, of course, your family history.  ‘

You can lessen the probability of getting cervical cancer by getting regular health checkups to ensure your body is in its best condition, as well as getting a PAP-smear from your gynaecologist, and receiving the HPV vaccine.

The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends HPV vaccination from people between the ages of 27-45. The latest vaccine protects against 9 HPV variations that it is likely older adults have not been exposed to and thus would gain immunity from should they vaccinate.

There are a number of treatment options for cervical cancer, and based on your diagnosis, your oncologist will recommend a treatment, or combination of treatments. These include the conisation of the cervix, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or a hysterectomy.

Breast Cancer

Unlike cervical cancer, breast cancer often manifests in visible and noticeable symptoms that you can identify yourself and thus seek further medical help. These symptoms include but are not limited to unidentifiable lumps in your breast, armpit and chest, sores that don’t heal, redness, or scaly thickened skin, inverted or sunken julprd, changed irregular breast shape, and bloody or cloudy nipple discharge.

You can conduct a monthly self-exam on yourself and it is advised that women begin yearly clinical exams at 45, though you can be diagnosed with breast cancer prior to that age: risk factors such as age, gender increase the likelihood women will be diagnosed as they grow older.

Other risk factors for breast cancer include family history, late menopause, prolonged use of hormone replacement therapies (HRT) and late pregnancies.

Four in 10 cancer cases can be prevented by quitting smoking, maintaining a healthy weight, diet I’ll and level of physical activity, vaccinating against certain infections such as HPV and Hepatitis B, avoiding unnecessary radiation and drinking less.

There are numerous treatment options for breast cancer, from therapies — hormone therapy,  immunotherapy, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, targeted therapy — to bone marrow transplantion or surgery. Your doctor will tailor a treatment plan based on your diagnosis that will give you the best outcome.

Treatment continues to advance and close the gap in gender inequality, even in healthcare. Make sure you’re there to benefit from the strides being made: stay healthy in your lifestyle, and get regular check ups. Cancer’s unwanted presence may be biased against women, but it is the collective burden the world bears. Every day is one day closer to our shared relief as we finally put that burden to rest.

C-Care IHK has opened an oncology clinic specializing in chemotherapy treatment, palliative care, cancer pain management, cancer screening and vaccination.

To book an appointment with the oncologist, please register with the link below

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1D32CARopI0-VItsRY3FrDkxvMsyaa-jezi3j-EvdMLw/edit

Dr. Aleesha Adatia has  Mmed Clinical Oncology, MSc Palliative Medicine Fellow and Cancer Pain Management Expert.