Breast cancer diagnosis & treatment: support needed

I totally support efforts made by these charities (MEWATA and WAMA) to make sure women in Tanzania access the breast cancer diagnosis and treatment clinics.
It would be better if such services are extended to rural areas where more women can benefit from them and also be educated on how to do early stage diagnosis themselves. I understand there is a simple way where any woman can follow do detect tumours in the breast(s) at home. But I wonder if many women, especially in the rural areas, know this basic procedure! Therefore the first effort should be to educate women. Even in schools these issues should be covered in any curriculum especially from secondary school level onwards.
MEWATA and WAMA are doing a wonderful job, I hope their call for financial and material support would be heard in time and action taken! Let's do it together to save the lives of our mothers, sisters, wives and daughters!
mosonga2002@yahoo.com
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US NGO donates 2200 brassieres to WAMA to fight...
(* SOURCE: Guardian, 14 Apr 2008)
By Special Correspondent, New York
A Florida-based non-governmental organisation, The City Experience Mastectomy Corporation, in the US has donated 2200 special brassieres valued at US$100,000 to support breast cancer patients in Tanzania.
The Wanawake na Maendeleo (Wama) foundation goodwill ambassador, Maria Kerins, announced the donation during a special ceremony held at the United Nations headquarters here in recognition of First Lady Salma Kikwete's efforts in improving women health and economic welfare in the country.
Speaking during the ceremony, Kerins said she learnt about the plight of Tanzanian women who suffer from breast cancer during informal conversation with the Tanzanian ambassador to the UN, Dr Augustine Mahiga, and his wife Elizabeth who also told her about Wama and Mewata`s involvement in curbing breast cancer in the country.
``I had visited Tanzania last year and while there I learnt first hand about the situation of women who were affected by breast cancer. As there were no suppliers in Tanzania of the specialised bras, I decided to locate manufacturers and suppliers in New York and find a way to get as many of them as possible to Tanzania,`` she said.
Kerins said that for those women who had undergone breast cancer surgery there was a real need for post surgery, specially designed, prosthetic bras that would be comfortable and practical, as well as help restore some dignity for women who faced the emotional and physical trauma as a result of the surgery.
She said breast cancer was on the rise around the world and that by the year 2020, 70% of all breast cancer globally would be found in the developing world.
She said in Africa young women often had little means of getting early diagnosis and too often ended up in an advanced stage of the disease before they received treatment.
In her remarks during the occasion, First Lady Salma Kikwete who is also Wama`s chairperson thanked Kerins for the donation towards breast cancer patients, saying the support would complement Wama and Mewata`s efforts in fighting breast cancer in Tanzania. Mama Kikwete said in the recent exercise carried out by Mewata in collaboration with Wama in Lindi Region a good number of women turned up for breast cancer diagnosis and treatment and that a lot of financial and material support was needed in order to have more women diagnosed and receive treatment on time.
During the ceremony, the First Lady named Maria Kerins Wama's goodwill ambassador and presented her with a letter of recognition. For her part, Kerins accepted the recognition and the two exchanged gifts.
The ceremony was attended by UN Deputy Secretary General Dr Asha Rose Migiro, Tanzania`s Permanent Representative to the UN, ambassador Augustine Mahiga and a number of UN dignitaries.

The First Lady and her entourage returned home yesterday evening.
She was accompanied by the assistant Director Primary Education and Coordinator from the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training, Jumanne Sagini, and Donald Charwe, a commissioner from the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare.