The Women and Media Research and Studies Center at the Faculty of Mass Communication at Cairo University, in cooperation with the Baheya Foundation, organized an awareness seminar on breast cancer in Egypt and the role of the media in spreading awareness about breast cancer, changing society’s concepts of cancer, and encouraging every woman to perform the necessary examinations and periodic examination of breast health.

This came under the patronage of Prof. Dr. Mohamed Othman Elkhosht, President of Cairo University, and Prof. Dr. Hanan Gunaid, Dean of the Faculty, and with the support of Prof. Dr. Mohamed Sami Abdel Sadiq, Vice President of Cairo University for Environmental Development and Community Service Affairs, and under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Nermin Ali Agwa, Director of the Center for Women`s Research and Studies.

At the opening of the awareness-raising seminar, Professor Dr Nermin Ali Agwa, Director of the Women’s Research Center, welcomed the platform’s guests from Baheya Hospital, which specializes in early detection and treatment of breast cancer, who are Dr. Youmna Sharif, Consultant General Surgery at Bahia Hospital, and Ms. Fatma Hassan, public relations officer at the hospital.

Dr Nermin Ali Agwa said that choosing the topic of the seminar came in conjunction with Pink October, which is a global initiative to raise awareness about breast cancer during the month of October, noting that the topic of the symposium today is an extremely important and dangerous topic, as breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in Egypt and around the world according to World Health Organization statistics.

The director of the Women`s Center indicated that the state has recently paid great attention to health issues through the presidential initiative 100 Million Health, one of the pillars of which is the initiative to support Egyptian women`s health. The initiative aimed to detect early breast cancer and millions of women were examined, and the initiative achieved impressive results. The rate of detection of the disease in its late stages decreased from 59% to 29. In this context, Cairo University launched an initiative to raise awareness of breast cancer at the university in cooperation with the Egyptian Society for Supporting Cancer Patients, aiming to reach the largest number of female faculty members, students and workers, and conduct medical examinations on them.

After that, Fatma Hassan, Public Relations Officer at Bahia Hospital, gave an overview of Bahia Hospital’s activity and its specialized areas of interest in treating breast cancer, noting that the story of the establishment of Bahia Hospital began when Mrs. Bahia Wehbe, wife of Eng. Hussein Ahmed Othman, was afflicted with cancer, an Egyptian woman from an ancient family, and during While receiving treatment, her family noticed the extent of women from poor families suffering in bearing the exorbitant treatment expenses, so they converted her home into a center specializing in breast cancer treatment without charge or discrimination. She pointed out that the Bahia Center building consists of 6 floors with a total area of 10,000 square meters, equipped with the latest equipment that Its value is 150 million pounds.

After that, Dr. Youmna Sharif, Consultant in General and Plastic Surgery at Bahia Hospital, gave a presentation on the importance of the role that awareness plays in combating breast cancer. She stated that Egypt has similar capabilities and scientific progress, yet the infection rate in Egypt is high, noting that this is due to the fact that the more awareness about cancer increases, the more When people realize the importance of early detection and regular examination in treatment and resistance to the disease, the incidence of infection and death due to this disease has decreased.