Some men are abandoning their cancer-stricken wives in their time of need.

This is a challenge faced by women who are diagnosed with cancer, which was highlighted by the Minister for Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation, Rosy Akbar at a Pinktober celebration yesterday.

Akbar says men who desert their cancer-stricken wives and families are cowards.

“I have heard cancer survivors telling me that their husbands left them, their spouses … their partners left them the moment they were diagnosed. This is very painful. It’s double the pain. So, any man who deserts his family or his spouse because she has been diagnosed with cancer is a coward.”

Akbar says children are the most vulnerable in these situations.

The Minister is stressing the importance of support from families of cancer patients, as no one should fight this disease alone.

She adds the Ministry has pledged to donate $5,000 to assist the Fiji Cancer Society with their programmes.