Pink Caravan announces over 50 educational and free screening activities

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

The Pink Caravan, a pan-UAE breast cancer awareness initiative by the Friends of Cancer Patients (FOCP), will be marking the International Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October with more than 50 events, including free checkups and screenings, webinars and online lectures in four different languages, which it has planned in collaboration with several government and private organisations.

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The Pink Caravan’s annual hosting of events and activities during October with support from its partners gains greater significance this year as it is being held amid the ongoing fight against the coronavirus pandemic via the implementation of several health and safety precautionary measures across the UAE. Furthering their commitment to reinforce the initiative’s key messages of education, awareness, early detection and timely diagnosis, Pink Caravan has been working with a host of public and private sector partners keen on highlighting the vulnerability of breast cancer patients at the time of an unprecedented global health crisis.

Pink Caravan is keen on highlighting the vulnerability of breast cancer patients at the time of an unprecedented global health crisis.

The range of events include free medical checkups and breast screenings for the UAE residents at Pink Caravan’s mobile clinics stationed in select destinations in several emirates. Eight webinars featuring specialists in the field from across a cross-section of hospitals in the UAE and four online educational lectures will be held to promote societal awareness of the importance of conducting periodic self and clinical checks. The webinars and lectures will be conducted in Arabic, English and Urdu to extend its messaging to a larger segment of the UAE’s multinational community.

Apart from the Pink Caravan’s team of doctors, webinar speakers will include health officials from the University of Sharjah, Ministry of Health and Prevention, Dubai Health Authority, and specialists from Mediclinic Middle East and Zulekha Healthcare Group. The online lectures are facilitated by Sharjah Ladies Club as part of its Wellness Day activities, Crescent Group, Sharjah Women’s Sports, University of Sharjah, Al Qasimia University, Chalhoub, Sephora and Dubai Properties

Oasis Mall Sharjah and Al Ain Pharmacy will spearhead fund-raising activities and Hard Rock will raise funds through sales of relevant merchandise.

Announcing the activities, Reem BinKaram, Head of the Pink Caravan’s Higher Steering Committee, said: “At a time when it is difficult to focus on any other health issue apart from COVID-19, Pink Caravan and its partners are keen on emphasising that regular screenings and checkups for breast cancer continue to be as important as before. Fact still remains that early detection can increase survival rates by up to 98 percent.

“Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer diagnosed in the UAE, and Pink Caravan has taken the lead to make the fight against cancer a community goal. While the COVID-19 outbreak may have shifted the format of our annual events, it has not dented our commitment to take forward our agenda of breast cancer awareness and prevention to the wider UAE community, along with our partner network,” she concluded.