First Lady Samina Alvi on Saturday called upon the society to play their active role to create more awareness among the target women through media products on the paramount importance of early diagnosis on ‘Breast Cancer ‘and build a confidence of women to fight the disease. “October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month to raise awareness about the impact of breast cancer and raise voices together on the importance of early diagnosis and its screening”, she said while speaking to a private news channel. She said that the breast cancer could be treated and cured if diagnosed in the early stage, and its survival rate was more than 98 to 99 percent. The First Lady said the identification of breast cancer at an early stage always has a significant impact on reducing both illness and death, adding, women in Pakistan tend to approach health facilities at last stage of cancer due to multiple socio-economic and cultural factors including lack of awareness and their belief in traditional treatments and spiritual healing. She explained that when we had started a national level drive on breast cancer, there were many women who do not share their health issues with others and were also shy to go for any kind of breast examination but now with the increasing awareness sessions with women, the problem is far better than before. She mentioned that the breast cancer awareness campaign, led by her had resulted in a significant increase in the early reporting of cancer cases in the hospitals. Samina Alvi also appreciated the role played by media in creating awareness about breast cancer in October and hoped that media would continue its role to educate the people about the disease. While expressing her satisfaction over the recent trends, she said recent data had showed that now, most of the patients specially young girls have started contacting doctors. She further appealed the women to examine their bodies every month and immediately visit a doctor if they find a lump or a change around their breast. Art exhibition, seminar on breast cancer held at IUB: Breast cancer in Pakistani women proves to be life-threatening but due to modern scientific development, early diagnosis and treatment of this disease is possible. This was expressed by speakers at an awareness seminar organized by the College of Art and Design, the Islamia University of Bahawalpur (IUB). However, they said, due to a lack of awareness in that regard, breast cancer was spreading rapidly in Pakistan and other Asian countries. According to the annual report of the World Health Organization (WHO), one million women suffer from breast cancer in Pakistan every year. The seminar was presided over by spouse of the IUB Vice Chancellor Rabia Athar, while Dean Faculty of Social Sciences Dr Rubina Bhatti, Principal College of Art and Design Maria Ansari, Dr Amna Noor, Deputy Registrar Fatima Muzahir and faculty members were present. Women Healthcare Center Director Dr Safina Sheikh gave a delivered a detailed lecture at the seminar. The speakers said breast cancer awareness campaigns were needed to be carried out vigorously. In that regard, media and educational institutions could play an important role so that women could be made aware of the seriousness of the disease, they added. “Unfortunately, our society has adopted an extremely backward approach about this disease, on the one hand, there are very few facilities for diagnosis and treatment, and on the other hand, our women hesitate to tell about this disease due to social traditionalism.” On the occasion, the College of Art and Design building was decorated with pink banners. An art exhibition was also organized to raise awareness about breast cancer.