STAY A STEP AHEAD OF CANCER

Breast, cervical, and ovarian cancer are the most common types of cancer that affect women and see the highest number of insurance claims. Prevention and a health cover can help you fight the disease

- Meghna Maiti

Actor-model Poonam Pandey took social media by storm in February this year, when a statement from her social media handle announced her death due to cervical cancer. The statement, as it turned out, was fake and it was later claimed that it was meant to be part of a campaign to spread awareness about the threat of cervical cancer among women.

Pandey was criticised for her “deceptive stunt”, but it indeed brought the discussion around the threat of cancer to women to the limelight.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), cervical cancer ranks as the fourth most prevalent cancer among women worldwide, with around 604,000 new cases and 342,000 fatalities recorded in 2020.

Data around another type of cancer that is common among women— breast cancer—is equally scary. Breast cancer was the leading cancer among women with as many as 192,020 new cases (26.6 percent), followed by 127,526 cases of cervical cancer (17.7 percent) recorded in 2022, according to data from the WHO.

According to the WHO, women in India were found more prone to breast, cervix, ovary, mouth, and colorectal cancer.

Treatment of cancer could involve various medical procedures, such as surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and medication. These treatments can incur significant expenses, including hospital bills, doctor’s fees, diagnostic tests, and prescription drugs, which can put enormous stress on one’s finances.