By Adesuwa Ehimuan
Nigeria is fast making giant strides to join other advanced countries where early diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer is emphasized.
This year Breast cancer awareness month which is celebrated in October of each year will be marked with renewed hope with the latest introduction of the Mami app
Early detection and treatment of the deadly disease serve as the most potent solution as breast cancer is curable if detected and treated early.
The newly introduced Mami app is free and available on any Android and iOS device. All that is required is for the user to download the app and send a short message service (SMS) to a short code. Once that is done, the user can access the detailed step by step do it yourself guide on how to check your breast regularly and how to identify breast cancer symptoms.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), breast cancer occurs when abnormal breast cells grow out of control and form tumors. If left unchecked, the tumors spread to the other parts of the body and can become malignant or fatal if left untreated.
WHO statistics show that the victims of breast cancer do not usually get to know their predicament until the symptoms have worsened and sometimes attain an incurable level. That is why early detection is important.
Also, more than 70 percent of breast cancer patients in Nigeria are diagnosed late, which may lead to their premature death .
However, early diagnosis and treatment gives the patient an 85% percent chance of surpassing the five-year survival rate [2].
Healthcare specialists posit that the rising cases of breast cancer can be attributed to the failure of patients to detect there is a problem, stressing it can be treated successfully if the patients show up early for the necessary screening tests.
Breast self-examination made easy with Mami App
