In a press statement issued on Wednesday, the ministry's gender equality deputy, Lenny N. Rosalin, said that breast examination is conducted to detect lumps and other symptoms as early as possible to ensure a quick response.
Early detection is important considering breast cancer and cervical cancer contribute the most to the prevalence of cancer in Indonesian women.
According to the 2020 Globocan WHO data, cancer patients accounted for 0.14 percent of the total Indonesian population, she informed.
More women suffered from cancer than men, and breast cancer was the most prevalent type of cancer, with 201,143 cases reported in the last five years, she added.
In 2020, the number of new breast cancer cases in Indonesia stood at 68,858, or 16.6 percent of the 396,914 new cancer cases, with the death toll reaching more than 22 thousand.
According to data reported by the Health Research and Development Agency, in 2019, the percentage prevalence of breast cancer in the Indonesian population was 19.18 percent.
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"To this end, we have to continue to carry out prevention, especially toward women who are more likely to contract breast cancer," Rosalin said.
"While breast cancer can also happen to men, the cases are rare. It is estimated that one out of one hundred thousand men in the world is diagnosed with breast cancer," the official added.
In Indonesia, three provinces have the highest prevalence of breast cancer: Yogyakarta with 2.4 percent or 4,325 cases, East Kalimantan with 1 percent or 1,879 cases, and West Sumatra with 0.9 percent or 2,285 cases.
One of the causes for the high incidence of breast cancer in the three provinces is low awareness among people about early detection and clinical breast cancer examination.
Around 70 percent of breast cancer cases that are detected are already at an advanced stage.
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Translator: Anita Permata D, Fadhli Ruhman
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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