: In Focus :

• Tariq Aziz: "Britain and the US killed Iraq. I wish I was martyred"
• Soma Hotel; Un-extinguished Blaze
• The Iraqi stalemate; Failure or Betrayal
• Melodrama: 15 minutes of The Long Lasting Relationship
• On the anniversarry of Dr. Ghassemlou’s assasination
• Rojin - a film critique
• Kurdistan and Democracy in the Middle East
• The murder of the journalist Sardasht Osman in Iraqi Kurdistan
• Iran: Executed Dissidents ‘Tortured to Confess’
• The murder of young journalist Sardasht Osman shocks the world
• Kurdish Cinema is promising
• Choman Hardi’s poems on the UK GCSE syllabus
• Nawshairwan Mustafa: His impact on the contemporary Kurdish politics
• Sixth London Kurdish Film Festival
• The world through an architectural eye
• Last call to Justice for Banaz
• Support Committee for Free Elections in Kurdistan
• 6th London Kurdish Film Festival - Call for submissions
• An interview with Omer Said Ali, former member of politburo of Patriotic Union of Kurdistan-PUK
• Mam Jalal: ”I have decided to stay active in politics until I reach 65, afterward, even if the whole nation begs me, I will retire”

Breast cancer awareness in Kurdistan

• KurdishMedia.com - By Helen Ali-Sairany
• 29/10/2008 00:00:00

"This disease (breast cancer) in Kurdistan is more aggressive than in other countries; here, those who are affected by this disease will die within six months to one year, but in other countries a woman may continue to live with the cancer for several years," KRG-MoH

Throughout month of October, hospitals and non-profit organization in the Boston area have been busy running miscellaneous activities pertaining to increasing the awareness of breast cancer; passing pink ribbons, running marathons, giving free mammogram screenings, walkathons, fundraising, etc. Professors in majority of health programs including mine have made a public service announcement a mandatory assignment in the curriculum where students are required to go into the community and teach the public about a disease state. And this year, the disease topic or theme was to increase public’s awareness about breast cancer.

With all the activities I was involved in for increasing breast cancer awareness, my heart and soul was with my young sisters in Kurdistan who are affected by breast cancer. It is heart breaking to learn that women in Kurdistan die from breast cancer within six month to one year where as women in other countries continue and are privileged to live with the cancer for years. It is also heart breaking to learn that female at a younger age are being impacted by breast cancer in Kurdistan while average age for a breast cancer victim in other countries is anywhere from 40 to 55 years.

I constantly hear the word “revival” associated with the current situation in Kurdistan. We are talking about revival and the words of Minister of Health is stock in my mind-“without significantly raising the awareness of breast cancer and arming women with early detection education, the Kurdistan Region is likely to see staggering numbers of women die from the disease.” I am studying to be a health care provider and a researcher. From my studies I learned that health is a very important aspect of revival. But why is health a factor that leads to revival? Can there be a revival without health? Can you imagine someone aiming to walk 1,000 kilometers without a vehicle? The metaphor I am utilizing here is to portray the importance of one’s mental and physical health to succeed. What I am trying to state here is that health can be the tool to direct you to the path of reformation. The measure of any developing country can be enquired using two important aspects of success; education and health. To put it simply; what is the value of our life if we have no health? What is the value of our mind if we don’t have a source of learning? And what is the point of revival if we learn that we are missing a very important figure in our homes and society everyday because of an epidemic that is up to now not curable or preventable in Kurdistan? Yes, and that figure happens to be either our sister, mother, aunt, cousin who die at a very young age from a disease that she yet to have access to treatments.

No doubt there have been miscellaneous attempts by Kurdish doctors in preventing many illnesses. The Health care system has focused on treating communicable diseases such as influenza and small pox. They have made vaccines available for many diseases, especially for children. Finally, they have managed to reduce the rate of infant mortality. All of this is great. However, there is another crucial aspect that is very significant in preserving health, yet not enough effort has been exerted on it. Per World Health Organization (WHO), this aspect is the lack of awareness, prevention, and treatment of non-communicable diseases or conditions; hypertension, obesity, cancer, diabetes, etc, which may lead to more serious disease states in the future2.[2]

Now let’s apply the current situation to the prevalence of breast cancer that is becoming an epidemic in Kurdistan. How aware is the public about the efficacy of mammography in the early detection of breast cancer? How well do they even know what mammography is? Also how many mammogram machines do we have in the region? I am afraid to say not so many. Mammography plays a central part in early detection of breast cancers because it can show changes in the breast up to two years before a patient or physician can feel them.1 Current guidelines from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the American Cancer Society (ACS), the American Medical Association (AMA) and the American College of Radiology (ACR) recommend screening mammography every year for women, beginning at age 40.1[1]

Research has shown that annual mammograms lead to early detection of breast cancers, when they are most curable and breast-conservation therapies are available. What is the price of a typical mammogram machine? It is estimated to be anywhere from 5 to 10 thousand US dollars. What are some early signs and symptoms of breast cancer are women taught to look for? Per KRG-MoH, there is couple of breast cancer awareness clinics in Sulaimanya and Hawler. The region also has a few walking centers for women at any age. In these clinics, the Minister of Health indicates that they run marriage consultation to advice any couple before engagement about Thalassemia, sexual transmitted diseases (STD) and breast cancer awareness. The Minister of Health indicates that there was a fully prepared project to encourage women to do what he calls “self breast exam.” He indicates that this project was supposed to be funded by WHO but they have backed up.

So let me ask, do the current health conditions in Kurdistan enable us to progress? Does the number of hospitals in Kurdistan meet population growth? Our population grows fiercely and continuously everyday and this will turn into a real disaster if the Kurdish Regional Government, as well as the people, do not provide sufficient services for the growing population. Are the hospitals equipped with the needed medical equipments? Do hospitals perform their roles efficiently? Patients lack their rights of being treated because hospitals are understaffed and lack specialty doctors or medical equipments. Minster of Health indicates that lack of health; education, financial support; supplies and research are the main reasons for the increasing rate of breast cancer among women in Kurdistan. Several private hospitals are constructed in Kurdistan yet lower class citizens are incapable of utilizing theses services from high financial demands.

Now let me get back to the word “revival” that I started the article with. How can we determine that a country has fully achieved revival? How can we determine that Kurdistan has achieved or in it way to revival? If you want to know whether a revival has been achieved in a certain country or not, look at how greatly it values human beings. I refuse to look at how many building has been built or how many five star hotels are around. To realize the value of human beings, look at the way the sick are treated in that society. By that international criterion, you will come to classify that a country is developed or not.

Applying this to the United States, we classify it as a developed country where human beings are given much care when sick or weak. A nation without health, health awareness, and education is therefore a nation that posses neither a life nor a mind. If the elements of revival were available to any nation yet not enough health care was available, the revival would never be achieved. Actually, this is the case with Kurdistan. Visiting Kurdistan now, one would notice nothing but a huge building site. Kurdish regional government ultimate concern of revival is constructing Iraq's biggest ever shopping mall right in the center of town, which will no doubt kill off the beautiful historic and cultural bazaars. All the roads are being resurfaced and they're building underpasses and flyovers at every intersection. Thus, all the elements of revival are useless if the human body, which enjoys a high level of physical and psychological health, is lacking.

Knowing this fact, we can state that we have two problems with the current health delivery in Kurdistan: the quantity and the quality of delivery. The quantity problem can be solved by building more hospitals. While to solve the quality problem, we need to call upon our governments, our health ministries, and the owners of hospitals to set a standard criteria. The government initially works for the people; managing people’s interests and needs. People should be aware of this fact. Who works for whom? Who is the employer and who is the employee? The people and the government should be aware of this concept. This is the first guarantee. The government should declare facts to whoever it may concern. They should state the number of hospitals being built. They should give complete, serious and precise facts and they should announce what has been achieved at the end of each year. The world has changed and we have to reform ourselves!

In the long run, there should be some modifications in the education system. I like to talk about Public Service Announcements. Public Service Announcement should be a required aspect for a successful completion. We study to become health care providers. It is therefore very important for our professors in medical and health programs to implant the idea of public service in students’ mind. Students should be required to achieve a certain hours of volunteer and go into communities and teach females about what breast-cancer is and how they should go about detecting it. A successful completion of a medical degree is not based on how much anatomy you memorize or know. Having a medical degree means you are by all standards a health care provider. Being a health care provider means you have the passion to prevent a disease states from progressing. When we talk about medical school system in Kurdistan, we learn that education is based on memory and stuffing the brain with information with no room for innovation, thinking or welcoming different ideas. The mind of the student therefore becomes like a storage closet.

Media: Advertisements about health awareness are usually dull and ineffective. There is not a single advert, show, or even a glimpse of a movie that encourages people to care of their health. In fact, it is quite the opposite; they teach them smoking, drinking, drugs, high sugar and fat intake products, which kill thousands of people. The outcome is cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, and car wrecks.

Kurds who live in the Diaspora: It is our utmost duty to take all the knowledge and research experience we get from the States or elsewhere and go and apply it to the Universities and hospitals in Kurdistan. I am so grateful to learn everyday that there is an effort underway by group of Kurdish physicians and scientists for Kurdistan. I want to take the opportunity and mention the great work that Dr. Anwar Shiexa is doing to treat the cancer patients in Kurdistan. Dr. Shiexa who is globally known for his work and dedication to the science of medicine has devoted his profession to protect cancer patients in southern Kurdistan and Iraq. He worked so hard to get his degree in the States and now he is in Kurdistan and is applying all his knowledge and experience to his people. He has succeeded in opening several cancer clinics in Kurdistan. He works so hard to be a source of reference for his residents and sends them all around the world to earn a specialty in cancer treatment. I am looking forward to have one of his fellow students with me here at Harvard.

I am also grateful to learn about all activities that are implemented by a group of Kurdish scientists and doctors in the United Kingdom area. This group of scientist and doctors entitle themselves KSMF (Kurdistan Medical and Scientific Federation). Their focus is for the Kurdish academics and healthcare professionals to get together in order to enhance their productivity toward Kurdistan. To learn more about KSMF and their activities, they maybe reached at www.ksmf.org.uk.

Kurdish youth throughout the nation including myself are involved with increasing awareness of breast cancer in Kurdistan. They are currently busy with fundraising for purchasing a mammography machine for early detection of breast cancer in Kurdistan. If you are interested to help out with this cause, please contact Nuha Farraj at Kycarizona@gmail.com.

I am sure there are more efforts under way that I am not aware of. The situation is only going to get worse if we fail to take an active role from stopping it. It is therefore our utmost responsibility to contribute with whatever we can for a healthier Kurdistan and for Kurdistan to achieve the standards of revival.

1. American Cancer Society, Inc. http://www.cancer.org

2. World Health Organization, Int. http://www.who.int/topics/cancerv

• KurdishMedia.com - By Helen Ali-Sairany
• 29/10/2008 00:00:00