Despite
High Awareness, 75% Indian Women Shy Away from Breast Cancer Screening: Future
Generali Life Insurance Company Pvt Ltd & Momspresso’s Breast Cancer Survey
Overall
awareness about breast cancer lies at 86% while 50% of the women feel that they
are at risk of breast cancer
In spite
of awareness about the common nature of the disease, 70% women are not aware of
treatment options while 65% do not know the cost of treatment
Around 60%
of women are not comfortable discussing breast cancer with friends and family
Mumbai,
October 15, 2018: Future Generali India Life Insurance Company Pvt Ltd (FGILI),
in association with Momspresso unveiled the findings of a national survey which
aims at understanding the awareness around breast cancer among Indian women.
Breast cancer is currently one of the most common cancers affecting women in
India. In fact, one fourth of all female cancer cases recorded in India are
breast cancer. In sight of the Breast Cancer Awareness Month (BCAM), FGILI, one
of the fastest growing life insurance companies & Momspresso, India’s
largest user –generated content platform for women, conducted a survey to
encourage conversations among women and increase awareness on the underlying
symptoms associated with breast cancer. It is essential that women know the
most common symptoms associated with breast cancer, such as lumps and
thickenings, and understand that prompt evaluation and early detection improves
outcome. This survey was conducted with a sample size of 2225 respondents
across 10 key metro cities.
High
Awareness of breast cancer
The
incidence of breast cancer in India is not rare. According to the ‘Breast
Cancer Awareness Survey’, almost 86% Indian women are well aware of this fact.
60% women claim to know about the incidence of breast cancer in the country. In
fact, 1 out of 2 women, felt that they were at risk for breast cancer. The
survey was conducted amongst women across urban Indian cities like Delhi,
Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Bhopal and
Chandigarh.
Lack of
importance given to breast screening
As per the
findings of the Breast Cancer Awareness survey, a major chunk of the
respondents felt that they did not require screening while a significant number
revealed that they were not aware about the existence of screening tests for
breast cancer. Additionally, respondents also revealed that they were too lazy
or felt that they were too young to undergo screening for the disease.
80% of the
respondents know that they need to get regular check-ups for breast cancer.
Whereas, only 25% women have gone through screening for the ailment
Almost 75%
of the respondents did not undergo screening for breast cancer due to ignorance
or inertia
Lack of
knowledge on breast cancer examination
More than
half of the respondents were not aware of the age at which regular screening or
examination for the disease should begin. The survey reveals that 2 out of 3
women were unaware of the simple self-examination that can help them detect the
disease at an early stage. While 65% of
the respondents had not heard about mammography as a screening test for breast
cancer, a whopping 80% did not have the slightest idea about clinical breast
examination.
Women
uncomfortable about speaking about breast cancer
Uncovering
an important factor that contributes the lack of awareness around breast cancer
and its treatments, the survey found that around 60% of women are not
comfortable speaking about the disease with their friends and family.
Extremely
poor understanding of different types of cancer
The survey
found that around 70% of the respondents were unaware of the different
treatments for cancer. Chemotherapy, in fact, was the only type of treatment
that most respondents could recall.
The study
also found almost 12% of the respondents themselves were suffering or had
suffered from breast cancer. Of these breast cancer fighters, a major chunk
cited pain and discomfort in the breasts, change in shape and size of breasts
and lumps as the top 3 most commonly experienced symptoms of the disease.
Need of
financial preparedness for the treatment
Future
Generali India Life Insurance & Mompresso further aimed to find out how
much Indian women know about the financial aspects pertaining to breast cancer
treatments. While treatment costs can range between INR 2.5 lakhs to 20 lakhs,
around 50% of the respondents perceived the cost to be less than INR 2 lakhs.
Since the awareness about treatments costs was so low, it comes as no surprise
that around 72% respondents had no information about breast cancer specific
insurance plans.
Commenting
on the survey, Rakesh Wadhwa, Chief Marketing Officer of Future Generali India
Life Insurance Company Pvt Ltd said, “October internationally is dedicated
towards raising awareness towards breast cancer and hence we commissioned this
survey to bring forth the current awareness levels amongst Indian women around
breast cancer and its repercussions. While this research points out high
awareness of breast cancer, it is the lack of action or the inertia that results
into detecting breast cancer in its early stages. As an insurer, we believe we
have an important role to play in addressing the topic of awareness of breast
cancer and its financial implications. This will help women be better
financially prepared in case of an uncertainty.
An
important factor that contributes to the lack of awareness around breast cancer
and its treatments is that 60% of women are not comfortable speaking about the
illness with their friends and family. It therefore becomes imperative to
increase and encourage open conversations on and about breast cancer.”
Speaking
on the findings, Vishal Gupta, Co-founder & CEO of Momspresso said, “Our
objective to conduct the first-of-its kind survey was empowering women with
knowledge and fostering a conversation on breast cancer awareness and
symptoms. Through the study we found out
that the awareness around breast cancer treatments and costs is largely
scattered. Women across the country have limited knowledge about what the
disease entails in terms of screening, treatment and cost. We are glad we
carried out this survey in tandem with Future Generali, as we share the same
objective of creating awareness in women towards a healthier and happier life.
Momspresso, through its repository of over 8000 mommy bloggers who write on
varied topics, will disseminate more information about breast cancer and its
implications. Raising awareness among Indian moms will definitely be our next
natural progression in order to significantly lower the number of lives that
this disease claims per year.”
While all
these findings point towards a stark gap in the knowledge pertaining to breast
cancer, they also present a unique opportunity for brands and platforms to
raise awareness and arm women with the knowledge required to prepare for and
eventually beat this rampant disease.
GENERALI
GROUP
Generali
is an independent, Italian Group, with a strong international presence.
Established in 1831, it is among the world’s leading insurers and it is present
in over 60 countries with total premium income exceeding €70 billion in 2016.
With over 74,000 employees in the world, and 55 million clients, the Group has
a leading position in Western Europe and an increasingly significant presence
in the markets of Central and Eastern Europe and in Asia. In 2017 Generali
Group was included among the most sustainable companies in the world by the
Corporate Knights ranking.
FUTURE
GROUP
Future
Group operates some of India’s most popular retail chains including Central,
Big Bazaar, Food Bazaar, Home Town and eZone. Apart from its allied businesses
in Life and General insurance, the Group is also present in the domain of
logistics infrastructure and supply chain and brand development. The group
operates over 17 million square feet of retail space in over 90 cities and
towns and 60 rural locations across India. The group’s retail formats connect
over 300 million customers to over 30,000 small, medium and large enterprises
that supply products and services to its retail chains. Future Group believes
in developing strong insights on Indian consumers and building businesses based
on Indian ideas, as espoused in the group’s core value of ‘Indianness.’ The
group’s corporate credo is, ‘Rewrite rules, Retain values’.
IITL GROUP
IITL was
incorporated in the year 1933 as an investment trust Company. It has made bonus
issues thrice and has been consistently paying dividend to shareholders over
the years.
Momspresso
users can quickly set up their own blog and express themselves freely to other
likeminded mothers in 7 different languages - English, Hindi, Bengali, Marathi,
Telugu, Tamil, and Kannada. The company has recently launched Momspresso TV,
India's first video channel dedicated to mothers, which already has a rich
repository of over 1000 videos.
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