By Hon. E. P. Chet Greene

I still remember that night in June 2012, the eve of my sister’s surgery. She had just turned 50 and our family gathered at the family home in Liberta in a huddle, hands clasped, voices low and trembling. While the others prayed, I cried. I cried through the entire prayer session, tears I could not control, tears born of medical ignorance, sibling love and a terror that gripped my chest like a vise. I did not know what the survival rate was. I did not understand staging or margins. I only knew that my sister had been diagnosed with breast cancer and I was convinced I was about to lose her.

That was more than a decade ago. Thank God my sister is alive today. She is thriving. She leads a normal life, contributes to our family and pours herself into her church and community. Every time I see her laugh, I am reminded of how wrong my fear was and just how grateful I am that medical science and the dedicated professionals who practice it here, proved my worst fears wrong.

My story is not unique and that is precisely the point I wish to highlight.

Breast cancer is the most burdensome cancer among women in Antigua and Barbuda. A retrospective study of cases diagnosed between 2017 and 2021 found that female breast cancer accounted for 42% of the four major cancers studied; more than cervical, colorectal and prostate combined in that cohort. The median age at diagnosis was 59 and nearly half of all cases presented with late stage disease. That last statistic haunts me. It means that too many of our mothers, sisters, aunts and friends are discovering their cancer when it is already advanced, when the fight is harder and when the five year survival probability drops from 68.3% for early stage disease to just 31.0% for late stage disease.

Those numbers are not abstract to me. They are the difference between a family prayer circle that ends in relief and one that ends in grief.

I commend the medical scientists and the local professionals, the oncologists, nurses, technicians and support staff who continue to provide care to citizens and residents afflicted by cancers of any type. I commend the Ministry of Health for its October campaigns urging residents to wear pink and prioritize breast health, for reminding us that a lump or thickening, a change in breast size or shape, or unusual discharge warrants prompt attention. I commend the community organizations that step into the gaps, offering support when the system strains.

Might I remind us that awareness cannot live only in October. It cannot live only in pink ribbons and Friday shirts. It must live in every conversation, every church pew, every village shop, salon and in every spa. It must be heard in every radio call-in program. We need educational programs on all public platforms, relentless, accessible and culturally grounded; bringing heightened awareness to our people. Not everyone reads the Ministry’s press releases. Not everyone attends health fairs. Everyone listens to the radio. Everyone talks to their neighbor. In a modern era, everyone is exposed to social media. We must meet our audiences wherever they are.

This week, as we mark increased recognition and advocacy for breast cancer education and for persons afflicted by this dreaded scourge, I implore every member of our community to embrace the schedule. Attend the screenings. Ask the questions. Support the survivors. Then do the one thing that too many avoid until fear forces our hand.

Book it.

Book your next medical appointment. Book your mammogram. Book your clinical breast exam. Do not wait for a lump. Do not wait for a symptom. Do not wait for a family prayer circle on the eve of a surgery you might have prevented from becoming an emergency.

As we close St. Paul’s Health Month 2026, under the theme “Know Your Numbers. Own Your Health,” let this be the gift you give yourself and the people who love you. Not a ribbon. Not a post. An appointment. A date on the calendar. A promise that you will not make your brother, your sister, your child, or your parent cry the way I cried on that hospital eve, crying out of ignorance and fear, when what is needed is knowledge, action and time.

My sister Gaye got her time. I thank God for it every day.

Now go get yours.

Hon. E. P. Chet Greene and his sister Gaye

This article was originally published by Antigua News Room. Read the original article here: Book It: A Brother’s Debt to Breast Cancer Awareness.