KUWAIT: Early detection of breast cancer could help limit the number of deaths claimed by this lethal disease, a health official said on Thursday, adding that around 23 percent of women in Kuwait suffer from the ailment. Breast cancer is amongst the world’s most pervasive diseases, Deputy Director General of Kuwait Cancer Control Center (KCCC) Dr Khulood Al-Ali said on the sidelines of a ceremony marking ‘World Cancer Day,’ which falls on October of each year.

Moreover, she noted that with the help of mammography, early detection of breast cancer is possible. On the spread of breast cancer in Kuwait, Ali said that in 2013, every 57 out of a 100 women were diagnosed with the disease, at an average age of 54. She also noted that 12 percent of these cases were women aged below 40 while the number of deaths were every eight out of a 100 cases.

She also spoke of Kuwait’s commitment to fight breast cancer as the country has initiated a number of programs designed to detect early signs of breast cancer in hopes of maximizing recovery. The health official noted that breast cancer recovery has about an 80 percent success rate. For the sixth consecutive year, KCCC organized a ceremony that underscored the importance of healthy lifestyle habits to ward off the disease. —KUNA