The Hon. (Dr.) Harini Amarasuriya - Prime Minister and Minister of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, I thank you for enabling Parliament to conduct an awareness program and an Adjournment debate on breast cancer, helping to inform the whole country.

¶ 02 Behind every statistic is a story—of our sisters, mothers, daughters, and friends. In my own family, two of my mother’s sisters faced breast cancer; my cousin’s youngest sister died from it. Many families know this sorrow.

¶ 03 Thanks to advances in medical science, breast cancer is treatable and often curable when detected early. Therefore, awareness and early detection are critical. The Health Ministry and many NGOs are involved in this.

¶ 04 Through this campaign, we urge our mothers, sisters, and daughters to undergo screening annually or at least every two years. Self-exams can be done at home; clinical exams can be done at clinics. The Minister informed me screening can begin after age 20; certainly by 35 all women should engage in regular screening. Services are available at clinics and major government hospitals, as well as through NGOs.

¶ 05 Early detection saves lives; we can prevent tragedies if we act in time. I also thank our MPs—many wore pink ribbons or ties today. Let us be informed and save lives. Thank you.