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Minister urges doctors to take breast cancer awareness to rural women

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Health and Family Welfare Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Husain on Sunday urged doctors, particularly female physicians, to take breast cancer awareness campaigns to rural communities, saying seminars alone will not adequately benefit disadvantaged women.

“If you spend at least three days a year in villages or talk to women wherever you are, I think you can make a significant contribution to breast cancer awareness,” he said.

The minister remarked while addressing a discussion at the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery, marking Breast Cancer Awareness Month 2026, as per a UNB report.

Highlighting the challenges rural women face, who often remain occupied with household chores and have limited access to health information, the minister called for coordinated efforts by the government, doctors and educated members of society to take awareness campaigns to the grassroots.

He also raised concerns about the affordability of treatment for poor women, questioning how many could access medical care even after screening detected breast cancer.

Sakhawat stressed the need to ensure that disadvantaged women receive proper medical care.

He also expressed concern over cases among young women, saying he spoke to several hundred women during a recent visit to his home district.

The minister said the government is working to extend breast cancer screening to the grassroots through health and well-being centres, but acknowledged that implementing the initiative will take time.

He said the plan requires infrastructure development, recruitment of doctors and midwives, and training to ensure screening services and awareness reach women in rural communities.

Director of the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery, Prof Dr Md Nashir Uddin, presided over the event.

PM’s Special Assistant on Health Affairs SM Ziauddin Hyder and Dhaka Medical College Hospital Director Brigadier General AKM Farhad Hossain, among others, spoke at the event.