Results for Breast Cancer

Around $20,000 pa’anga will be offered in cash and prizes from Digicel Tonga to help raise awareness of women and men’s health in Tonga during October and November.

Tonga's Vaiola Hospital sees 40 new breast cancer patients each year, but very few cases are detected early enough, before the cancer has spread to other parts of the body. Breast cancer surgeon, Lord Tangi, this morning begged women to use the early detection facilities that had been available at the hospital for the last four years.

Over 30 cases of breast cancer are diagnosed in Tonga every year, Dr Amelia Afuhaamango Tu‘ipulotu told the Tonga Breast Cancer Society this morning, October 1, at the launch of their Pink October breast cancer awareness campaign. “The number may be higher because many women do not come forward,” she said.

Breast cancer remains the number one cancer affecting women in Tonga with 12 cases so far from January-July this year, said Dr ‘Ana ‘Akau’ola today at the launch of the Pink October breast cancer awareness campaign. Only two of those cases were detected early through mammogram. "It's only when your cancer is detected early, that we can help you beat this killer disease”

Anne Thorp, ambassador for the New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation said 3,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer every year in New Zealand. She told a “Pink in Paris” fundraising luncheon, organized by the Tonga Breast Cancer Society on 22 October, that Maori and Pacific Islands women often don't present themselves early enough for treatment.

Breast cancer is the number one cancer in Tonga far exceeding any other cancer in women, killing 27 since 2013. Already 18 cases have been diagnosed this year, Dr ‘Ana ‘Akau’ola said today at the launch of the Pink October Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Photos by Linny Folau.

Tonga's first mammogram machine was commissioned today October 10 at Vaiola Hospital, and will help the Radiology Unit to detect breast cancer early.

Breast cancer remains the leading cancer among women in Tonga, where four have died this year due to a disease that is treatable if caught early, Dr 'Ana 'Akau'ola said today at the launch of 'Pink October' for public awareness, when she encouraged women to come forward with their symptoms when they appear.