Women careless over cancer
Greek women are not taking enough precautions against breast cancer, the most common form of cancer among the country’s female population, according to a survey made public yesterday by the Greek Cancer Society. A telephone poll of 712 Athenian women aged over 20 conducted in September found that 64 percent of respondents failed to examine their breasts on a monthly basis, while 40 percent had not been taught by an official source how to conduct the examination. Only 3 percent had been instructed by surgeons or oncologists, while 46 percent relied on their gynecologist. Some 5 percent said they had learnt the process from press or television reports. An estimated 4,000 Greek women develop breast cancer every year. The survey found that 34 percent of women aged over 40 had never had a mammogram. However, there was an increase over last year in the number of women who were examined by a doctor this year – 37 percent, four times as many as in 2000.