Her Royal Highness, Princess Hessah Al-Sha'lan, Wife of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, will launch the National Campaign for Early Detection of Breast Cancer, to be organized this evening by the Ministry of Health (MOH) at King Fahad Medical City (KFMC).
The Director General of Public Relations, Information and Health Awareness, Dr. Khaled Marghalani, for his part, pointed out that the Campaign seeks to reduce the incidence of breast cancer in the Kingdom, and reduce its mortality accordingly. This objective could be attained by raising the awareness of the nature of the disease, its causes, ways of prevention, and, above all, early detection. The campaign places more emphasis on the improvement of early breast cancer detection, by way of self-examination, clinical examination, or through the mammography technique, as well as the improvement of the curative and rehabilitative services provided for patients. “It goes without saying that detection of breast cancer in its early phases is one of the most important secondary preventive strategies, as it increases the probability of recovery and survival by 98%, and, thus, lessens breast cancer mortality,” Dr. Marghalani said.
He went on to explain that the Campaign is designed around four phases, aiming at the accomplishment of its objectives. The first phase, located in Riyadh, has to do with health awareness program, which is designed to be very feasible to women. MOH has dedicated a website to this campaign to encourage women to apply the breast cancer early detection method.
The second phase has to do with booking arrangements through calling the toll-free number of number of the Media Information and Health Awareness Centers: 8002494444. It should be noted, in this regard, that the Ministry has organized training and rehabilitation programs for the Center's employees, so as to be able to receive booking requests and encourage women for examination. The number of working hours has been determined from 7am to 3pm. Booking requests will be received and the appointments (and places) of examination will be determined, so that the caller could head for the proper primary healthcare center on time.
The third phase has to do with the examination itself, conducted by the mobile clinics provided by MOH for this reason. These clinics are staffed by radiologists and assistant officers to conduct examination on a number of 10.000 women over the first year. Furthermore, these clinics are equipped with digital mammograms. They will work in the vicinity of a number of the main primary health care centers in Riyadh from 8am to 4pm. Examination takes only a short time.
The last phase has to do with the treatment with those proven to have breast cancer. King Fahad Medical City will provide the proper medication in due time, as with as offering tips and counsels, as well as all forms moral and curative support for patients.
As his statement drew to a close, Dr. Marghalani expressed his gratitude to Her Royal Highness, the Wife of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, for her patronage of this campaign, commending her gracious initiatives and unstinting support of such social events and activities. He also called upon all people and institutions to support the MOH's awareness efforts aiming at preserving all the society members' health and well-being, by educating them in a way that protects them against diseases.