Hundreds march for breast cancer awareness
Hundreds of people turned up at Parliament Building in Lilongwe on Saturday for a breast cancer awareness walk to Woodlands.
The walk, organised by Think Pink Malawi as part of the breast cancer awareness month, is an annual international health campaign conducted every October to increase awareness of the disease.
Some of the notable faces during the big walk were Speaker of Parliament Catherine Gotani-Hara, Minister of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare Mary Navicha, and former second lady Mary Chilima.
Think Pink Malawi founder Blandina Khondowe, who is two-time breast cancer survivor, in an interview stressed the need for people to always remember that cancer is treatable if detected early.
She said: “Cancer is a progressive disease, but in Malawi, most cases are presented late when there is little that can be done. So, with early detection, survival rate is also higher.”
Khondowe said she was grateful that Think Pink Malawi is getting more support with time.
She said: “I am sure this is because cancer is no longer uncommon. These days, most of us know someone who has or had cancer. So, it is something that people are talking about more often and people are starting to want to know more about the disease.” University of North Carolina (UNC) Project research nurse Daniel Nansongole, who was among the health personnel providing breast cancer screening, also stressed the importance of cancer screening.
