Her passion has always been about people who don't have access to decent medical care, Professor Carol Benn, renowned breast disease specialist and surgeon, told the members of the Rotary Club of Johannesburg New Dawn.
Prof Benn spoke to the club as part of Breast Awareness Month in October. She said she firmly believes that access to healthcare should be a fundamental tight for everyone.
She admitted that she had woken up at 4 am on Wednesday and had already performed four surgeries before arriving for her talk. Once she'd finished answering questions, she left to go back to the operating theatre.
Prof Benn heads up the Breast Care Centre of Excellence at Netcare's Milpark Hospital.
In introducing her, Prof Lucille Blumberg said she takes a holistic approach to health care and has helped to turn breast cancer from what was an untreatable disease into a journey that often has a good outcome.
Prof Benn explained how she had left Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto because of frustration at not been allowed to establish a breast clinic within the state system.
She left for the Johannesburg Gen (these days the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital) where she was met by what she describes as a "butchery of chopping off breasts."
"My worst word in the world is ignorance," she said. Only about 25% of people screen for breast cancer, something she doesn't understand.
"Breast cancer is not a little shop of horrors," and there is usually time to consider all the options and to get a second or if necessary even more opinions. "Don't put professionals on a pedestal," she said. "The only thing you can do on a pedestal is fall off."
"If you demand excellence, people will have to deliver."
Especially because sub-Saharan Africa has one of the highest incidences of breast cancer in the world, people mustn't get rushed into making decisions on how to proceed.
"Consent means I need time to make a decision, I need to know what the costs are and I have a right to a second opinion."
"Never make a decision in doctors' rooms."
The pink theme at the club was not only because of Breast Cancer Awareness month, but also in anticipation of the birth of Lawrence Ruele and wife JoJo's daughter, who subsequently turned out to be a strapping boy, born on Thursday.
Club Assembly: A questionnaire has been circulated in order to collate club attitudes ahead of the club assembly on Saturday, 4 November. It will be held from 11 am to 3 and the moderator will be PDG Grant Daly. The venue is Twickenham Guest House, 66 Twickenham Ave, Auckland Park and the proceedings will include lunch and drinks to facilitate fellowship.
A Thought for the Week: The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently. - Friedrich Nietzsche (1844 - 1900)
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