Student Name: Anyla
Class: Nursery Branch: VIP Road
To be a good parent you need to take care of yourself first so that you can have the physical and emotional energy to take care of your family… Michelle Obama
At times, sincere indulging in parenthood leads to negligence of the health of self. In the context of women, it has been seen that more than 3 lac children lose their mothers to breast and cervical (mouth of the uterus) cancers every year in India. Experts suggest that the most common reason is a lack of awareness of methods available for screening and diagnosis of the same. Holding the social responsibility of being a gynecologist, I feel that everyone should be made aware of these two dreadful diseases “breast cancer” and “cervical cancer”, as detecting them well in time can cure the disease completely.
Simple steps which can help to detect and prevent these diseases are:
1. Every girl should get a vaccination for HPV ( HPV vaccination ) after 9 years of age as vaccination alone decreases the risk of developing cervical cancer by 90%.
2. One should get “PAP smear test” ( fluid taken from mouth of uterus) done every 3 years starting at the age of 21 years to diagnose earliest changes which might lead to development of cancer, later on in life.
3. One should do regular self breast examination immediately after menses, every month to look for any lump in the breast.
Children are like a sponge who absorb everything they hear and see. If they notice us keeping our mental and physical healthy as a priority, they will do the same throughout their life. One cannot pour from an Empty cup. Taking care of yourself is a part of taking care of your children. Let us pledge to do & teach the ‘self care’ to the generations to come.
