campaign aims to raise awareness on breast cancer in UAE

As many as 50 specialised health technicians will support the medical team of Pink Caravan, the campaign that aims to raise awareness on breast cancer, in its second year. The Pink Caravan campaign, which will take place at the end of March, will be led by Emirati and expatriate horse riders and will travel the country to spread the message of hope among women and encourage them to perform self-examinations and go for regular medical checkups. The campaign, the first of Kashf program which is an initiative of the Friends of Cancer Patients (FoCP), began its first phase last year with the aim of spreading awareness about the importance of conducting regular examinations for early breast cancer detection. The campaign also aims to raise funds for hi-tech medical equipment and a mobile clinic equipped with the latest technology so as to make it accessible to all people in remote areas, as well as to establish a cancer registry within the UAE. Dr Sawsan Al Madhi, Head of Pink Caravan’s Medical and Awareness Committee and FoCP Secretary General, said: “We hope that the second round of our campaign would bear its fruits and rise to our aspirations of minimising the number of cancer cases in the country as much as we can.” She stressed that the Pink Caravan’s doors are open to all physicians and medical technicians who wish to volunteer and join the campaign, after last year’s campaign witness up to 10,000 screenings, among these are cases of people who are still following up their medical treatment after they were diagnosed with the disease. The campaign, which runs until 2014, was launched under the patronage of His Highness Dr Shaikh Sultan Bin Mohammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah.