Pink October raises awareness of breast cancer [1]
Monday, October 22, 2007 - 10:13. Updated on Tuesday, July 21, 2015 - 15:37.
Wearing pink, Tongans have joined in a Pink October campaign to promote awareness of breast cancer, organised by the recently formed Tongan Breast Cancer Society Inc
On Saturday October 20 a 2 km morning "pink" walk around the Nuku'alofa CBD attracted nearly 200 people
The society is selling pink t-shirts to raise funds to support breast cancer initiatives in Tonga with the aim of reducing the number of people in Tonga who die from breast cancer every year.
The Pink October Breast Cancer Awareness Month started in the United States and has spread to other parts of the world in recent years with the goal of bringing awareness to local communities about the need for early detection of breast cancer. The emphasis was on encouraging women to get annual examinations, to have mammograms and to self-examine.
Cancer Registry
In Tonga cancer of all types has been the second leading cause of mortality for more than 5 years now. Tonga's population is projected to yield between at least 500 to 550 cancer cases a year (excluding the deaths with undetermined causes), according to the Ministry of Health 2005 annual report.
The ministry in recent years has begun a cancer registry as part of a "Cancer in Pacific Populations Study" that will also provide data on breast cancer in women in Tonga.
Eleven cases of cancer of the breast were diagnosed and referred to Vaiola Hospital in 2005. There were four deaths from breast cancer the same year.
The ministry reports that available evidence suggests Tonga's cancer pattern follows those experienced in more industrialised countries with high cancer of the colon, lung and breast cancer among women
Interesting findings of the Tonga study so far are a higher than expected incidence of endometrial cancer and a disproportionately high number of breast cancers among a younger age group.