“Pink October” begins this Tuesday in a context of an explosion of cases: 1,312 people die each year from cervical cancer in Senegal. And 2,024 new patients are registered in a context of dwindling resources.
By Justin Gomis – While “Pink October” begins this Tuesday, the figures show that the situation is not rosy: 1,312 people die each year from cervical cancer in Senegal. And 2024 new cases are recorded per year. This is a revelation from the president of the Senegalese League for the Fight against Cancer (Lisca). Dr Fatma Guenoune explains: “breast cancer is the second most common cancer after cervical cancer, which is the leading cancer with 2,024 new cases and 1,312 deaths each year,” explains the president of Lisca. She participated in a hike, which marks the launch of the “Pink October” campaign, which recorded the presence of the Minister of Health, Ibrahima Sy, and Maïmouna Dièye, Minister of Family and Solidarity.
In this country, cancer is devastating with cases continuing to explode. “Every year, there are more than 12,000 new cases of cancer in Senegal, with around eight thousand deaths in total. Regarding breast cancer, there are 1,800 new cases each year, with 976 deaths,” she adds. She continues: “In Senegal, all sexes combined, gynecological cancers are the leading cancers. Breast cancer screening involves mammography. This is a graphic examination of the breasts which allows us to see very small tumors palpated by hand. What to do? We have to be preventive. “I ask all women aged 40 to have a mammogram every two years. Such an examination at least allows them to see if there are any small tumors. We also ask women, from the age of 20, to do a breast self-exam.” Dr Guenoune reminds us that “breast self-examination is a free examination that women must do from the age of 20, after the onset of menstruation”.
Today, Lisca is “at the end of its resources”, pushing Dr Guenoune to ask people to support cancer patients in their care. “We have around 400 women who are on the waiting list for support at Lisca level. We had a telethon in 2022 which allowed us to have more than 200 million CFA francs, but we spent more than 220 million CFA francs to take care of 830 patients,” she stressed.
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