Corporations join hands with Pink Caravan to raise breast cancer awareness

Various big players to host Wellness Days to raise cancer awareness, Pink Caravan to provide free screenings

X September 2012: Following on the success of last year's corporate awareness initiative, Pink Caravan, the pan-UAE breast cancer awareness initiative by the Friends of Cancer Patients (FoCP) charitable society, will again be hosting wellness days at corporate sites across the country this October.

To mark International Breast Cancer Awareness Month, a team of professional medical practitioners will visit 10 companies during the month to offer free screenings and awareness lectures to visitors and employees, with referrals for further treatment if necessary. Pink Caravan's medical teams will provide free screenings for one day at each corporate location –each corporation is chosen for their commitment and initiative to support cancer awareness. The Wellness Days will also aim to educate attendees on the importance of regular self-examination as a precaution against breast cancer. Apart from medical awareness, all corporations will be actively involved in raising funds internally throughout the month of October and donating to Pink Caravan.

Commenting on the campaign, Secretary General for the Friends of Cancer Patients charitable society and Head of the Pink Caravan's Medical and Awareness committee, Dr. Sawsan Al Madhi, said, “The goal of our corporate wellness days and free public examinations is to encourage a higher number of people to visit treatment centres and to educate them on how to conduct self-examinations on a regular basis. Last year's campaign was a resounding success due to the enthusiastic support from corporations across UAE. We are hoping to replicate that achievement, reaching even greater numbers of people across the UAE this year.”

Dr Sawsan went on to say, “Breast cancer is not an easy topic to broach, but our campaigns are designed to break down barriers and to actively encourage more people to get themselves checked. We need people to understand that regular self-examination can increase the chances of early detection which, in turn, can significantly raise chances of survival.”

The wellness days will be hosted by MBC group, Marks & Spencer, Coca Cola, Dubal, Price Waterhouse Coopers, Pepsico and others.

Breast cancer is by far the most common cancer in women worldwide, and there are about 1.38 million new cases and 458 000 deaths from breast cancer each year. If detected at an early stage, the disease has an almost 95% cure rate.

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