Now Reading: Doctors urge Indian women over 40 to screen for breast cancer
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Doctors urge Indian women over 40 to screen for breast cancer
A pilot study by Hyderabad's Ushalakshmi Breast Cancer Foundation, presented at the ASCO Annual Meeting 2026, found that fear, stigma, and poor awareness keep most Indian women from breast cancer screening. The…
The Story in Brief
A pilot study by Hyderabad's Ushalakshmi Breast Cancer Foundation, presented at the ASCO Annual Meeting 2026, found that fear, stigma, and poor awareness keep most Indian women from breast cancer screening. The survey of nearly 700 women in Hyderabad and Warangal found only about 1% of eligible women are screened, despite a national programme in place for nearly a decade.
Dr P Raghu Ram, the foundation's chairperson, said the biggest barrier is reluctance to come forward, not availability. The study, conducted with MD Anderson Cancer Center, recommends sustained education and training. The foundation will submit recommendations to the Prime Minister and has developed a mobile app in 12 languages to dispel myths.
The Indian Opinion
The 'reluctance to come forward' is doing a lot of work here. It flatters the state's claim that it offers a free national screening programme when a decade in, it reaches one in a hundred women. That is not a woman problem, it is a delivery problem. Clinics that women trust, doctors they can speak to, and follow-up that does not end at diagnosis are what move the needle. Watch the next NHM budget line for community-level breast health education and trained ASHA workers, not just screening targets. If those numbers stay static, the stigma is not the story; the system is.
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
