Breast cancer issues discussed in seminar

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi 

(Pakistan News & Features Services)

Eminent medical practitioners shared their views with a large number of athletes in the seminar on breast cancer awareness which was organized by the Pakistan Olympic Association Women & Sports Commission (POAWSC) at the Karachi Gymkhana recently. 

Nearly one hundred athletes, coaches and representatives from the swimming, tennis, boxing, handball, karate, archery, softball, badminton, fencing, football, Special Olympics and the Sindh Olympic Association participated in the event. 

Dr Bushra Sherazi, a general surgeon and working as professor of surgery at SIUT, Dr Nida Wahid Bashir, Consultant Breast and General Surgeon at Dr Ziauddin Hospital, and Dr Zubedia Kazi, President, Pink Pakistan Trust, were the speakers on the occasion alongwith Fatima Lakhani, President, POAWSC, and Veena Masud, Secretary, POAWSC. Syed Wasim Hashmi and Nargis Rahimtoola, both members of the POAWSC, were also present in the ceremony. 

The audience was informed by the organizers that the POAWSC was formed under the directives of the IOC with the sole purpose to advise the POA on its development and implementation of the policy to promote and develop equal opportunities for women in sport, in a healthy and safe environment and to be able to help them participate and benefit from sport and physical activities. 

“We are concerned about the wellbeing of all our female sports personnel and the purpose of the seminar is to educate and enlighten on breast cancer awareness. This is a major issue and we feel it is so very important that we share this information with you all so that you are aware and can now pass on this knowledge to close friends and family. I am sure we all know of people who are suffering or have suffered from this terrible challenge,” the POAWSC Secretary observed.

“Knowledge and understanding are our first priority against this disease. Breast cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer deaths. Awareness and early detection with timely treatment can help us to beat this disease. We are able to bring this needed awareness to our female athletes and their coaches by our team of expert doctors who have committed wholeheartedly to this cause and who have helped and supported women with breast cancer,” she added. 

It was followed by speeches from Dr Bushra Sherazi and Dr Nida Wahid Bahir, both of them vastly experienced doctors, working with breast cancer patients. They gave detailed presentation on the awareness of breast cancer, how to identify and how to cope with the strain and stress of the disease.

Dr Zubaida Kazi, President, Pink Pakistan Trust, followed it up with another informative presentation to enlighten and educate the audience, who was shocked to learn about Pakistan having the highest rate of breast cancer in South Asia.