FALMOUTH, Trelawny — A veteran primary health-care expert has cautioned women against excessive drinking, saying that the habit exposes them to greater risk of developing breast cancer.

“I bet you never know that alcohol increase breast cancer. Women, did you know that?” Dr Beverly Wright, regional cancer coordinator in the Western Regional Health Authority, asked guests attending the launch of the Trelawny Cancer Support Group at Falmouth Public General Hospital on Monday.

According to Dr Wright, who has more then 28 years’ service in public health, she has seen more and more women drinking not only rum, which she labelled the “poor man’s drink”, but expensive alcoholic beverages, apparently to signal that they “have arrived”.

But in arriving [you are] drinking yourself to breast cancer,” Dr Wright said.

She also stated that prostate cancer is now affecting a growing number of younger men.

“According to Globacom, in 2020, 1,560 new cases of prostate cancer were here in Jamaica,” Dr Wright said, adding that the survival rate of women diagnosed with cancer is higher than that among men.

One reason for that, she argued, is “women are willing to join support groups” and seek medical attention.

“Men will tell you they don’t want no surgery on a certain part of their body, they prefer fi dead first; and they do,” she said.

“Some men are even funnier, they say they don’t want no man to feel a certain part of their body… and so we have been trying to facilitate the men to make the women test them,” Dr Wright said.

The Trelawny Cancer Support Group was launched by Feed the Fight Breast Cancer Foundation in partnership with Trelawny Health Department.

The foundation, founded by breast cancer survivor Yvonne Dunkley in 2013, is a non-profit organisation committed to raising awareness, providing support and promoting early detection and treatment of breast cancer. The foundation plays a critical role in empowering individuals and communities through education, advocacy and compassionate care.