People urged to seek medical advice on cancer

By LULU MARK
THE warning that chewing betel nut causes mouth cancer is the often used cancer awareness message in Papua New Guinea but the majority of chewers continue to ignore this.
Port Moresby General Hospital (PMGH) oncologist Dr Peter Olali said chewing betel nut would cause oral cancer and urged people take heed of the advice.
He said prevention was better than treatment. early warning signs for chewers were sores inside the mouth.
“If you notice a sore and you continue to chew, it will cause oral cancer,” he said.
Olali made the comments during a presentation by PMGH consultant oncologist Dr Karthik Periasamy on Tuesday. It was revealed that Melanesia ranked number one in the incidence and mortality rates of lip and oral cancers in the world.
Melanesia is a sub-region of Oceania and includes Fiji, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, PNG, New Caledonia and West Papua (the western half of the island of New Guinea which is part of Indonesia).
Periasamy said oral cavity cancer was the second most common cancer in PNG and in terms of occurrence between the male and female populations, it ranked first in males and third in females.
He said oral cancer was preventable through living a healthy lifestyle and avoiding or reducing unhealthy habits.