Is cancer a taboo subject in Mauritius?

I don't think cancer is a taboo thing here. People will openly talk about it in general. For those who have a family member or close friend in that situation, some may find it difficult to discuss it as it causes a lot of emotional pain.

People know that cancer can kill and what happens sometimes is that people's behaviour change towards someone they know who have the disease. For example, some will not get in contact with these people (no handshake etc) for fear they catch the disease.

For someone living with the disease, it might just be a question of not wanting other people to feel sorry for them. They just want to be treated equally and 'normal'.

it's not really taboo.
as you know, i have a close relative who has cancer.
but because she is old, we don't want to tell her anything as she might feel like a burden for her children who are taking care of her right now.
we just told her that she is very sick and that we will take care of her...so by telling new like this she would be devastated...

as for telling or not telling the whole family, it can be a bad idea..
because since the sick person is already very weak(at the last stage), family visiting her and constantly talking about her sickness might affect her...that's why only very CLOSE relatives were informed...

Hi All,

Thanks for your comments.

I fear to repeat myself here...lol But actually, in my family my grandma and uncle on dad's side died with a cancer and my aunt on mom's side has a cancer.

When both my uncle and grandma were diagnosed a cancer the irony being that my dad was among the 1st to find out, the close relatives didn’t want anyone to know that they had cancer. It was likely that is a shame if someone will find out about the cancer. That's from where I wanted to ask IF it is a Taboo.

On the other hand, my aunt, who's been living abroad for a very long time was open on the issue.

Guess, it's a question of mind set, thoughts and environment in which you evolve....no offence to anyone :)

I wouldn't say it's taboo but more that the older generation are uneducated about the topic. My father thought he might have cancer and said that if he did I would no longer be allowed to see him, I asked why and he said because its contagious. I laughed and said 'Cancer is NOT contagious', so I believe there are many people who think like this.

I think more education should be offered for people to know the signs and precautions to take etc but to be honest I believe that everyone is at risk whether you do anything to prevent it or not. But that's another topic :)

As far as I've seen, cancer is not a taboo subject here. Many patients openly tell about their situations.
Perhaps some people do not tell because they know that some Mauritian people dramatise the situation or they just don't want to make unconcerned people worry.