According to MINSA (Ministry of Health), more than 175,000 people in the country have a cancer diagnosis. The types of cancer with the highest incidence are prostate, breast, stomach, colon-rectum and uterine cervix. However, despite the fact that 69,000 new cases of cancer are diagnosed each year worldwide, it is a disease that can be prevented and even vanquished if a cancer screening is carried out that allows an early diagnosis. Other factors that contribute to overcoming the disease are: receiving timely treatment and making favorable lifestyle changes.
What is the importance of cancer screening?
Preventive checkups are the best way to detect cancer in the early stages. These are periodic tests that can identify the disease before symptoms appear. There are different tests that are done to diagnose cancer early. For example, it is recommended that women between the ages of 25 and 64 have a Pap smear, a clinical breast exam, and mammogram. For men, preventive exams begin at age 40 and usually include prostate screening. Starting at age 50, both men and women should have fecal occult blood testing and colonoscopy.
While preventive checkups or cancer screenings are important and necessary to detect the disease at an early stage, unfortunately there is a lack of access to specialized health care services in the country, which especially affects people with low-income.
What initiatives are being taken to bring early cancer screening closer to the vulnerable population?
The Wiese Foundation and the League Against Cancer have come together in a joint effort to combat the gap in access to quality health care and prevent cancer in Peru. The League Against Cancer Peru, since the year 1950, has deployed actions to reduce the high incidence of the disease in the country.
Through information, educational and screening campaigns, they promote a culture of prevention, healthy lifestyle habits and early detection. For its part, the Wiese Foundation works with the vision of contributing to forging a country of better citizens through humanitarian aid programs, through which it allocates a fixed annual amount to drive campaigns and initiatives of this type.
Through a collaboration agreement, both organizations have implemented a project to increase cancer detection coverage through efficient and quality services. To that end, the Wiese Foundation donated and conditioned a mobile unit that travels through vulnerable areas, providing specialized care and cancer screening exams.
Moreover, in the different points of attention of the mobile unit we provide guidance and awareness to citizens, in order to sensitize them on the importance of preventive check-ups and leading a healthy lifestyle. It should be noted that this mobile unit has equipped consultation offices and qualified medical personnel for Pap smears and clinical screenings of up to 5 types of cancer, free of charge.
Preventing cancer through screening increases the life expectancy of those who suffer from this disease. If you want to have more information about the Wiese Foundation Humanitarian Aid Program, we invite you to open this link: https://www.fundacionwiese.org/fondo-solidario/ayuda-humanitaria
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