What day is it?

Worldwide Breast Cancer Day is celebrated on October 15 in Ukraine and around the world. The importance of this date cannot be overestimated. In recent years, a huge number of women are faced with this disease. For the most part, women do not know what symptoms indicate the possible course of the disease and delay in contacting doctors. This day is designed to draw the community’s attention to the existing problem and raise awareness among women about the importance of early diagnosis.

How did the idea to celebrate World Breast Cancer Day come about?

The idea of ​​celebrating Breast Cancer Day at the global level belongs to WHO. The initiative to approve the appropriate day arose in 1993. Since then, it has been widely celebrated in 44 countries of the world, as this problem has gone far beyond the borders of any one country.

A whole month of educational work

In addition, October marks the beginning of World Breast Cancer Month, which was announced by the World Health Organization (WHO) in the same year. For a whole month, every day, people receive a large amount of valuable information about this dangerous disease. In this way, women’s attention is drawn to the extreme importance of detecting this disease in the early stages, which increases the chances of a full recovery.

Symbolics

Initially, 68-year-old Charlotte Heil, who survived this oncological disease, tried to spread the symbolism of the fight against breast cancer in the form of a peach-colored ribbon to the masses.

Symbol of the day fighting breast cancer

In 1992, the editor of the women’s magazine Alexandra Penny and the vice president of the Estee Lauder corporation were interested in Charlotte’s idea. They offered her a collaboration, but not being able to come to an agreement, they released their pink ribbon, which was distributed to all visitors to Estee Lauder boutiques. The purpose of this action was to attract the attention of a large number of people to this problem and to collect funds for research.

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If, thanks to this campaign, many people know about the pink ribbon, few people are aware that there is also a gray ribbon – a symbol of the fight against brain cancer, a green one – with kidney cancer, and a gold ribbon is associated with the fight against childhood cancer. In any case, each of these symbols reminds of the importance of taking care of your health and emphasizes timely examination.

Statistics

Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer among the fair sex. Every year, the number of patients increases, and the disease itself is getting younger. According to statistics, the incidence of malignant neoplasms of the mammary gland in the population of Ukraine has increased more than 2 times over the past 15 years. It is known that the morbidity rate of women living in large cities and industrial areas is higher than that of rural residents.

The statistics are quite sad:

• in 2019, more than 13,000 Ukrainian women were diagnosed with breast cancer, 40% of them died, every tenth woman did not live a year after diagnosis.
• Usually, women turn to medical institutions rather late, due to which in 25% of cases the disease is diagnosed in the last stages, when the treatment gives the least effect. However, successful therapy is possible in case of early diagnosis. The data show that if the disease is detected in the early stages of development with the help of a preventive examination, the probability of a full recovery increases significantly.
• More than 90% of women who are diagnosed with the first stage of breast cancer completely overcome the disease.
• During the treatment of the second stage, 80% of women can hope for a positive result from the therapy, and in the case of the 3rd stage, the treatment is effective for 50% of women.
• More than 15 million women worldwide suffer from breast cancer.
• More than 6 million women die from breast cancer every year.

How to celebrate World Breast Cancer Day?

On the day of the fight against breast cancer, mass events are organized to promote a healthy lifestyle, thematic conferences, which allow to increase the awareness of the population about the treatment and detection of cancerous tumors, prevention and prevention of their appearance. Charity concerts and sports competitions are held, the purpose of which is to collect funds to help cancer patients. An open day with seminars and doctor’s consultations is held in oncology dispensaries. You can undergo a screening and preventive examination. In public places, mass actions are held with the distribution of leaflets, booklets, souvenirs with important information about the prevention and treatment of breast cancer.

Why is this event important?

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the world. This is one of the most dangerous diseases of mankind, from which many people die every year. The disease is insidious and changeable, it has the ability to evolve and over the years it increasingly affects young people and children. Over the years of research, scientists have made great progress in finding an effective treatment, but the work is still ongoing.

A cancerous tumor can go unnoticed for a long time, develop in the body without symptoms. Therefore, it is often discovered too late, when it is no longer possible to fight.

Despite all the seriousness and dire consequences, cancer is not always a sentence. It is possible to live with this disease for many years if you receive timely treatment, and in some cases it is treated even in the late stages. However, many believe that the detection of neoplasms in the body always leads to death and treatment in such a situation is pointless. In order to eradicate such thoughts and spread correct and vital information among the population, it is important to listen to the advice of doctors, which resonate with special force on World Breast Cancer Day.

When will we celebrate Breast Cancer Day?