In Croatia, about 2,300 women develop breast cancer every year and about 900 of them die. The most vulnerable are women aged between 50 and 69, but there is an increasing incidence of this malignant disease among much younger women too.
"The incidence of breast cancer in Croatia is similar to that in other European countries. We cannot influence its incidence but we can work on its prevention and reduction of the death rate, which is the most important goal," the head of the Croatian Europa Donna organisation, Vesna Ramljak, said.
The purpose of Daffodil Day, observed on March 19, is to raise awareness of breast cancer as a serious public health problem and to inform women about the importance of regular medical check-ups in order to detect the disease as early as possible while it is still curable.
President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, who joined members of the Europa Donna organisation in selling daffodils, wished all women combating breast cancer a speedy recovery and called on all citizens to care about their own health. She called on women to conduct regular self-examinations and undergo mammography screening.
Health Minister Sinisa Varga warned that the main cause of breast cancer was its late detection, highlighting the importance of prevention and early detection of the disease. Recalling that Croatia had a national preventive programme for the early detection of breast cancer, he urged all women to undergo free mammography screening whenever they were called by their doctors to do so, because breast cancer, if detected in its early stages, was absolutely curable. He noted that about 60 per cent of women answered such calls, but that the purpose of public awareness campaigns such as Daffodil Day was to increase this percentage.
Varga pledged assistance from the Health Ministry in purchasing an intraoperative radiation therapy machine, which costs 4.5 million kuna.
Intraoperative radiation therapy is a state-of-the-art cancer treatment that delivers a single dose of radiation therapy in a single session.