Dominica Cancer Society (DCS) kicked off activities for World Cancer Day with a Eucharistic Mass at the Portsmouth Catholic Church on Sunday.
President of the DCS, Ivonne Alexander, said that the society continues to encourage women to do regular self breast examinations and to have a Pap smear done while men should be screened for prostate cancer regularly.
The DCS is concerned with the age of diagnosis in Dominica, as more young people continue to be diagnosed with cancer; the rate of mortality and the access to timely treatment. Alexander said that many persons who are diagnosed do not have medical insurance or the financial means to access treatment in a timely manner and that certain treatments such as radiation are not available on island.
Alexander, who is a cancer survivor, and the DCS continues to advocate for early detection through screening. She says, “Cancer can be detected early through regular screening and successfully treated. Cancer is not a death sentence”.
World Cancer Day will be celebrated worldwide on February 4 under the theme ‘I Am and I Will’. Persons are encouraged to support the efforts of the DCS by purchasing t shirts and ribbon to wear on that day.
