TIRANA, Feb. 19- In Albania so far has been noticed a tendency on the rise for breast cancer in women. The disease affects annually 600 women and girls, of whom one third lose their lives. The battle gets harder for those women suffering from economic difficulties, because the treatment costs are quite high. If it weren’t only for the cost, these women have also had to deal with numerous shortages of medication and equipment at state hospitals.
Last year the medical authorities claimed they met the treatment needs by extending the chemotherapy map to regional hospitals as well. An important measure however, remains the early diagnosis of the disease, thus officials report to have added moving mammography around the country. Through early diagnosis, the mortality rate has been tackled somehow, yet, the cases of breast cancer have been on the rise.
Official authorities and nongovernmental organization in Albania have increased their efforts that the fight against breast cancer will happen throughout the entire year, and not only during October, the global awareness month. Journalist Mimoza Picari has investigated into this matter for an article for Voice of America.
Alban Ylli from the Public Health Institute said that this disease was first noticed in Albania during 1980s. He claimed that 45 new cases with breast cancer out of 100 thousand women, are diagnosed annually, 80 percent of whom are over 45 years old. That would amount to 600-650 women diagnosed each year, of whom 200-230 women pass away. This makes breast cancer responsible for the deaths of 16.5 percent of Albanians annually. Up to 14 percent of all cancer diagnosis in Albania is breast cancer, causing the death of one in seven patients dying from malignancy.
There are 4800 women in Albania who have either healed from the disease, or that are living with it. The executive chief of the Christian Association of Albanian Women, Donika Godaj, said that breast cancer is a very expensive disease, which doesn’t only affect the health of the woman, but the entire family. The most affected are women living in difficult economic situations.
Sonela Totraku is a teacher who has been living with breast cancer for 10 years. She has confessed some of the costs of the chemotherapy she paid. She has made six cycles of the taxol drug chemotherapy. She has taken two treatments from the state hospital, whereas the four others she has bought herself. Each of these treatments costs 500 euros.
“So, it is not enough the fact that you have to deal with a physically tormenting disease, but it is also an economically agonizing one. There have been time periods when my treatment costs would surpass 100 thousand lekes($920) per month, and it was horrible,” said Totraku.
Another lady, Majlinda Nanaj, an inspector at the Property Agency, has been diagnosed with the disease on 2013. She recalls that the conditions at the Oncology dept. Were scandalous back then. It would lack sheets and blankets. Due to her medical condition she found it impossible to wait for the conditions to better, so Nanaj went to get her treatment in Greece, even though the costs were pretty high.
Governmental plan
Totraku recalls her first experience with the state hospital, which she called it scandalous. She remembers the colossal queues and the people fighting over the breast eco. One of the first aparatures she has touched was the radiotherapy. Totraku said that this piece of old equipment had significant side effects and would also scorch you.
However, the situation has recently changed, with more updated equipment and more comfortable spaces for the patients. The Ministry of Health said that it has an action plan against tumors for 2001-2020. One of the parts of this action plan, especially regarding breast cancer was the expanding map for diagnosis and treatment in the regional hospital of Vlore, Shkoder, Elbasan, Durres, Korce, and Fier. nevertheless, the main objective is the prevention through periodical check-ups for women over 40 years old.
Merita Xhafaj who is a specialist near the Health Ministry said that they have increased the number of moving mammographies during 2018, so more women can be incited for examinations. More input was done in the rural areas where the medical attention is minimal. The treatment of the disease based on its stages, includes some protocols, starting with herceptin, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and officials clarify that the public hospitals costs are covered by the government.
Xhafaj said that after 20 years they could finally solve the issue of herceptin therapy last year. That is because the therapy is quite expensive, costing 27 thousand euros. She claimed that the Ministry has installed the second accelerator at the University Medical Center of Tirana “Mother Teresa,” which helps with the treatment of 100 patients daily.
“We aren’t facing a fatality. It is a cancer which isn’t a death penalty. A crushing majority of the cases recover,” said Alban Ylli from the Public Health Institute.
Women’s strength
Both women also had their mothers diagnosed with this breast malignancy, while on their early stages of treatment. Unfortunately, none of them made it out. Sonela Totraku recalls the economic difficulties her family had to go through to support the treatment of two patients. She said that they had to take bank loans to make the ends meet, and support each other all the way through. Majlinda Nanaj on the other hand, said that after her treatments in Greece she had to return in Albania so she could help her mother get treatment. She was constrained to find the prescription medication for her mother through informal ways, even though it was 2014-2015.
Even though her mother doesn’t live anymore, Nanaj is fully recovered from this disease. It has been five years since she was first diagnosed. She owes all her gratitude to her husband and two children.
“The woman is a great strength since the moment she bears a child to life. I told myself that you have no time to die. You have two children to grow and educate. And I think that every woman has a great power within herself,” said Nanaj.
Totraku has been suffering from this disease for 10 years now. Her family, pupils, friends, and relatives have shown a great support to her. Yet, she still asks for some help from the government as she cannot cope with everything herself. She mentions all the surviving women that need some sort of support and aren’t just statistics.
“When I saw some statistics in a seminar, there weren’t any women who had spent 10 years with this disease. And the answer was that there is still no statistics for you. I told them that we will be breaking all their statistics,” said Totraku with a grim of optimism in her words.
