136 women died from breast cancer in Fiji in 2015.
This number rose to 145 in 2016 while a significant decrease has so far been recorded in 2017 at 45 deaths to date.
These statistics were revealed by the Minister for Health Rosy Akbar at the Pinktober Symposium organized by the Fiji National University, Fiji Medical Association and the Fiji Cancer Society.
Akbar told cancer survivors that their stories matter in advocating the support that women with breast cancer need from their families and society and that no one deserves to fight alone in the battle against cancer.
She says that every woman needs to understand the importance of early detection and she stated that self-examination is the best possible way in countering cancer at an early stage.
She adds that it is not right for a man or a family to desert a woman who is a victim of breast cancer.
Meanwhile, Akbar says that societies need not to discriminate women living with breast cancer as a woman without a breast is still a woman and therefore still deserves to be respected.
