Dr Francois Uwinkindi, Director of Non-Communicable Diseases Division at Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC) has said the government needs ‘strong’ civil society organisations to help tackle breast cancer as well as raising community awareness across the country.

He was speaking at a fundraising dinner organised by the Breast Cancer Initiative East Africa (BCIEA) on October 12. The event was part of the celebration of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, October.

Uwinkindi said that RBC is promoting clinical breast exams at primary health care facilities to make sure that people can undergo check-ups at nearer places and get screened, hence getting treatment.

"As we speak now, we have five centres that are able to diagnose and provide some treatment for breast cancer. What we are raising is community awareness; the government alone cannot be able to do that. We need strong civil society organisations to work with us,” he said.

Uwinkindi highlighted that breast cancer is the leading cause of death among all types of cancers in Rwanda and that it’s the case globally as it is the most diagnosed type of cancer.

"If you look at the numbers from our cancer registry from 2021,” he said, "Breast cancer was the first cancer diagnosed in our country because we had around 652 new cases.”

"Among those,” he continued, "We had 30 men, so it's not an issue for only women. In the same year, we lost 636 lives due to cancer.”

Uwinkindi noted that local health facilities still diagnose people with cancer at a late stage given that the awareness is not good in the community, adding that it has been found that around 98 per cent of Rwandans do not have ample information concerning prevention; behaviour change and regular check-ups of breast cancer.

He also stated that the average age for patients is 45 – women who are still active, supporting their families and contributing to the development of the country.

Phillippa Kibugu-Decuir, a breast cancer survivor and founder of BCIEA, said although there has been improvement, there are still myths and stigma around breast cancer in Rwanda.

Besides that, she said there is also less use of screening services which are available in the country; hence awareness is needed in all aspects of the disease.

"I feel like everybody in Rwanda has to get up and raise awareness,” she said. "I usually teach them three words: Ikunde, imenye, isuzumishe because once you love yourself and put value on your life, you know what part of your body is well and what part is not. And when you see any sign of changes that makes you uncomfortable, you need to go and get checked.”

Anandi Kolluru, 15, is part of BCIEA initiative at Green Hills Academy and has started raising awareness among her colleagues.

"We didn't know anything about breast cancer, including the fact that it also affects men. Hence, we started raising awareness to know more about it and prevent it since prevention is the best cure.

"Spread knowledge about it and if you have money, contribute to the breast cancer initiative. If you are young, you can start an initiative and raise awareness,” she said.