Mahasiswa UGM Buat Bra untuk Penderita Kanker Penyudara
Mahasiswa UGM Buat Bra untuk Penderita Kanker Penyudara
This idea begins with her mother’s experience that had difficulty buying a bra, especially to support one of her breasts after undergoing a breast cancer operation. Attika Nurul Hanniyah, student of Faculty of Medicine, then tried to design a bra that is appropriate for cancer patients. The bra is named KPOP bra, as an acronym for Bra Kanker Pasca Operasi (Post-Surgical Breast Cancer Bra).
"My mother had the operation last year. After the surgery, she had no special bra for post-surgical patients. Regular bra was not an option since it was less comfortable since one breast has been removed. Starting from there I had an idea, make a bra for those breast cancer patients so that they are more confident, supporting performances and more comfortable in use,” she told reporters on Wednesday (1/6).
To make the idea came true, Attika was assisted by three colleagues, namely Ulvi Henida Setyaningsih, students of the Faculty of Geography, Erinda Septyaningrum of the Faculty of Engineering, and Iffa Luthfiyah of the Faculty of Medicine. Initially, they twice design a bra that fits with cancer. The first design was considered to be not comfortable and unattractive. Then they developed the second design that is more comfortable and beautifies the woman’s appearance.
According to Attika,the making of KPOP Bra is done to support the appearance of breast cancer patients to be more confident.
The bra needs to be comfortable to wear while not causing any side effects during the recovery of breast cancer patients. "We use cotton fabric for the material," she said.
Erinda and other team members said that the existing bra for breast cancer patients are imported and using silicon material while KPOP bra only uses dacron which is cheaper. "Bundle of dacron is elastic with low density we think it makes the recovery process faster because there is an air circulation," she said
At first glance, the bra is no different from a regular bra for women who have normal breasts, but the bra has bags that can be filled with bundles of dacron. In the cup there is a kind of pouch, and it can be filled with bundles of dacron which suits the patient’s need," she explained.
KPOP bra, according to Erinda, has been tested by 7 patients with breast cancer. According to Erinda, the patient feels comfortable using the bra. "We continue to promote the bra through Indonesian cancer foundations," she said.
Iffa Luthfiyah hopes that the KPOP Bra would help increase the confidence of the women who had surgical removal of the breast. Moreover, according to the results of the study, said Iffa, about 40 in 100 thousand women in Indonesia had breast cancer. "According to the research by Globocan, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), 40 in 100 thousand Indonesian women live with breast cancer," she said.