Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Vice President Senator Sherry Rehman has called for partnerships between the business community and diagnostic laboratories to provide free or subsidised breast cancer screening, proposing a special campaign for women in October 2027.
Addressing a breast cancer symposium organised by the Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) via Zoom on Thursday, Rehman proposed launching a pilot screening programme in Rawalpindi and Islamabad, with the possibility of expanding it nationwide.
She urged the RCCI to bring three major diagnostic laboratories together to explore providing free or subsidised screening, saying such an initiative would mark significant progress in improving early diagnosis.
Rehman called on businesses to make breast cancer screening part of their corporate social responsibility programmes, including services for female employees and the female family members of male employees.
She said one in every nine women in Pakistan faces the risk of breast cancer, while many cases remain undiagnosed and patients go without timely treatment.
She highlighted the limited availability of screening and diagnostic facilities in remote and rural areas, and identified social stigma and cultural barriers as obstacles to awareness and early diagnosis, noting that many women do not know where to access screening services.
Rehman stressed that breast cancer should not be regarded solely as a women’s issue, calling for wider public awareness and improved access to diagnosis and treatment.
Expressing concern over Pakistan’s high breast cancer burden compared with other Asian countries, she said cancer registry figures do not reflect the full extent of the problem because many cases go unreported.
Sharing her personal experience, Rehman said her mother had also suffered from breast cancer, and that she understood the difficulties women face in dealing with the disease.
She commended the RCCI for organising the symposium, saying the business community can play an important role in addressing social challenges alongside its economic contributions.
She proposed inviting laboratory representatives to discuss practical arrangements for free or discounted screening and pledged to encourage other political leaders to support the initiative.
Rehman said parliament could serve as a platform for bringing together business leaders, civil society and other stakeholders to discuss breast cancer awareness and access to diagnostic facilities, and urged business leaders to use their networks to spread awareness and encourage timely screening.
She also highlighted the wage disparities and discrimination faced by women working in homes, fields and factories, calling on the business community to play a greater role in protecting women’s health, and said she was ready to work with business leaders to advance awareness and improve screening access.
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