Zenica: "Don't Be Late" campaign promotes the importance of preventive check-ups

ZENICA, (Patria) - Breast cancer is the most common malignant tumor among women in BiH. Men are not spared from these diseases either, and recently there has been an alarming increase in this condition among younger women in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Institute for Health and Food Safety Zenica, in cooperation with zumba instructors Dila Seferović and Sandra Dedić, organized a zumba party "Don't Be Late" this Saturday.

The joint training was held in the atrium of the "Džananović" shopping center to promote physical activity and its importance in the prevention of breast cancer.

"According to all data, preventive check-ups are what primarily save lives and health, because most cancers and other diseases are curable up to 100 percent if detected in time. On the other hand, it has been proven that increased physical activity, especially in times when hours and days are spent in front of computers, phones, or televisions, automatically means a reduced risk of illness," says sr. spec. Elma Kuduzović, head of the Health Promotion Department at INZ.

Representatives of the Institute distributed educational material to passers-by and visitors about the importance of breast self-examination, early detection of breast cancer, and the program of free mammography screening in the Zenica-Doboj Canton, as well as keychains with the message "Don't Be Late".

"With this motto, the message is sent to all healthy women to inform themselves, and not to fear the disease but their own ignorance and fear of examination. Often, delaying the examination is more fatal than the diagnosis itself, because treatment begins too late, when the cancer has already spread," says Dr. Kuduzović.

Statistics show that more than 90 percent of women with breast cancer can be cured if the disease is diagnosed in an early stage. Through regular check-ups, which include self-examination, mammography, and breast ultrasound, breast cancer can be detected in an early stage, when the chances of recovery are much higher.