Two women die each day from cancer, says foundation

By MICHAEL LAI
Two women dye each day from cancer because treatment is lacking in the country, says PNG Cancer Foundation deputy chairperson Dr Lynda Sirigoi.
“We have 700 women dying of cancer every year which is equal to two women a day,” she said during the Pink Ribbon luncheon for the foundation yesterday.
Sirigoi said the only cancer radiotherapy machine in the country, at Angau General Hospital in Lae, did not work.
“Cancer treatment has been lacking and it remains one of the major killers of human lives, especially women,” she said.
“We have a national cancer unit at Angau which was built with our donations, but it is not operating at the moment because of the cobalt unit – the machine that provinces radiotherapy to treat cancer.”
Sirigoi said cancer treatment overses was expensive.
Obstetrics and Gynaecology Society vice-president doctor Arthur Elijah said 9 per cent of hospital beds were taken up by women with cancer.
He said breast, cervical and mouth cancer were affecting many women.
Sirigoi said high body weight, low fruit and vegetable intake, lack of physical activity, smoking tobacco, and chewing betel nuts caused cancer.
“It is also transmitted from one person to another during sex,” she said.
The Pink Ribbon lunch was sponsored by Airswift as a new partner.