Pink promise

October, also known as ‘Pinktober’, is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which is an annual campaign to increase awareness regarding the disease. You! takes a look...

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), breast cancer is the most common cancer among women worldwide, claiming the lives of hundreds of thousands of women each year. It develops from the breast tissue and if left undetected and untreated, the disease can spread to other areas of the body as well. Given the high incidence and destructive nature of breast cancer, early prevention and treatment of this disease is a high priority. It is due to this fact that the month of October is dedicated to the cause of spreading awareness regarding breast cancer.

How it all started

Breast Cancer Awareness Month is an annual international health campaign organized by major breast cancer charities every October. The ‘awareness month’ was founded in 1985 as a partnership between the American Cancer Society and the pharmaceutical division of Imperial Chemical Industries. Initially, the aim of this event was to increase the early detection of breast cancer by encouraging women to have mammograms. For those who don’t know, a mammogram is an x-ray of the breast used to detect abnormalities in the breast tissue. Early detection means that cancer can be more effectively treated and prevented from spreading to other areas of the body.

In 1993 Evelyn Lauder, Senior Corporate Vice President of the Estee Lauder Companies founded ‘The Breast Cancer Research Foundation’ and established the ‘Pink Ribbon’ as its symbol. Today, to create awareness, a variety of events around the world are organized in October, including walks, runs, seminars and breast cancer screening days etc. Due to the success of the awareness events, the colour pink is now associated with breast cancer awareness.

Situation in Pakistan

In Pakistan every 9th woman is at a high risk of getting breast cancer at some point in her life. Prevalence of breast cancer is the maximum amongst all the cancers in Pakistan i.e. 38.5%. Every year 40,000 women lose their lives due to breast cancer and approximately 90,000 new cases are diagnosed, however the number of unreported cases is expected to be much more.

Unfortunately lots of cultural and social taboos along with myths and misconceptions are associated with breast cancer, contributing to high mortality rates as most of the women report at stage III and IV, thus reducing the chances of survival. Moreover, the available human resource in health sector in Pakistan is also quite low - 1,127 persons per doctor. The ratio of female doctors especially surgeons, radiologists and oncologists is even less. The survival rate of breast cancer increases to more than 90 per cent if diagnosed early. To change the regressive attitude of most of the Pakistanis, Pink Ribbon Pakistan is taking numerous initiatives this year to spread awareness.

Pink Ribbon Pakistan

Pink Ribbon Pakistan, is a non-funded, self-sustained organization, which came into being almost 13 years ago. It is a project of Women’s Empowerment Group and is mostly supported by different government departments, contributions through public philanthropy and volunteers from all over the country. In the past few years, the campaign has been able to successfully reach out to over 1,050,000 women and 350,000 female students with knowledge and techniques to detect breast cancer at an early stage. Also, they had been provided free clinical examination and free mammogram screening. Since the campaign started, there has been a 30 per cent increase in patient turn-up at Breast Cancer Clinics nationwide.

Pakistan’s first Breast Cancer Hospital

To mark October 2017 as the Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Pink Ribbon has once again launched a countrywide Breast Cancer Awareness drive. In 2016, Pink Ribbon took the initiative to build Pakistan’s first Dedicated Breast Cancer Hospital in Lahore. The good news is that the hospital is already under construction and will offer state of the art diagnostic and treatment facilities equipped with latest technology equipment, which will include Mammography, Ultrasound, Pathology, Operation Theatre and Oncology with highly trained technicians and doctors for an early diagnosis of breast cancer. Moreover, Psychological Counselling services will be offered to help patients and their families to explore how to cope with emotions such as fear, anxiety and grief; and challenges such as communication issues, isolation and adjusting to changes in family dynamics.

Pink programmes

Here is a list of programmes that will be a part of  2017’s Breast Cancer Awareness campaign.

Advisory services

One of the major reasons of high mortality with breast cancer in Pakistan is the low female literacy rate and lack of preventive health awareness among the masses. This is why Pink Ribbon provides advisory services that bring convenience to people who seek basic information regarding medical assistance and complex details of breast cancer. These services are available through phone, email, website, self-explanatory and easy to understand bilingual literature on prevention and early detection of breast cancer and referral information for treatment and healthcare providers.

Youth Awareness Programme

Recent trends have shown that young girls are also very likely to be hit by breast cancer in Pakistan. But no one ever suspects this deadly disease in a young girl due to the prevailing misconceptions attached to breast cancer. Therefore, Pink Ribbon has been running Youth Awareness Programme for almost six years. Through this, young women are informed about early detection methods, who resultantly also prove to be influencers for their mothers and other women in their families to remain health conscious and get regular check-ups.

National Screening Programme

Pink Ribbon Pakistan launched the first ever Breast Cancer Mobile Mammogram Clinic in collaboration with INMOL Cancer Hospital in 2009. The mobile unit has reached out to the poorest of the poor women for free screening services at their doorsteps saving thousands of precious lives. They also ran a free breast screening programme in 12 cities with the collaboration of 14 partner hospitals for 2 years. This year Pink Ribbon Pakistan has collaborated with hospitals and clinics nationwide to provide free services of clinical-examination, ultra sound, mammography and also assistance for further treatment if required.

 Pink Illumination

Every year, an extensive Pinktober Campaign is run nationwide encompassing various programmes along with Pink Illumination - where  national monuments of Pakistan are turned pink with  lights for public awareness and in solidarity with breast cancer survivors. In 2016, Mazar-e-Quaid in Karachi and Centaurus Mall, Islamabad were glimmering in pink.

However, this year, for the first time, Pakistan’s National Assembly, Islamabad was illuminated for 3 days - October 3, 4 & 5 -  in support of the cause.

Self-exam

  Monitoring your breasts over time is one of the best ways to detect any problems. Be sure to speak up and contact your doctor if you notice any changes. You can examine the health of your breasts at home in these five easy steps...

• Step 1: Begin by looking at your breasts in the mirror with your shoulders straight and your arms on your hips. Here’s what you should look for:
• Breasts that are their usual size, shape, and colour
• Breasts that are evenly shaped without visible distortion or swelling

        If you see any of the following changes, bring them to your doctor’s attention:

• Dimpling, puckering, or bulging of the skin
• A nipple that has changed position or an inverted nipple (pushed inward instead of sticking out)
• Redness, soreness, rash, or swelling.
• Step 2: Now, raise your arms and look for the same changes.
• Step 3: While you’re at the mirror, look for any signs of fluid coming out of one or both nipples (this could be a watery, milky, or yellow fluid or blood).
• Step 4: Next, feel your breasts while lying down, using your right hand to feel your left breast and then your left hand to feel your right breast. Use a firm, smooth touch with the first few finger pads of your hand, keeping the fingers flat and together. Use a circular motion, about the size of a quarter.

          Cover the entire breast from top to bottom, side to side - from your collarbone to the top of your abdomen, and from your armpit to your cleavage.

          Follow a pattern to be sure that you cover the whole breast. You can begin at the nipple, moving in larger and larger circles until you reach the outer edge of the breast. You can also move your fingers up and down vertically, in rows. Be sure to feel all the tissue from the front to the back of your breasts: for the skin and tissue just beneath, use light pressure; use medium pressure for tissue in the middle of your breasts; use firm pressure for the deep tissue in the back. When you’ve reached the deep tissue, you should be able to feel down to your ribcage.

• Step 5: Finally, feel your breasts while you are standing or sitting. Many women find that the easiest way to feel their breasts is when their skin is wet and slippery, so they like to do this step in the shower. Cover your entire breast, using the same hand movements described in step 4.
• Courtesy: http://www.breastcancer.org

Celebs supporting the cause

Social workers, activists and celebrities, everybody is paying attention to the dispersal of knowledge regarding diseases such as Breast Cancer and HIV/AIDS. Usually celebrity endorsement of a cause makes a huge impact over people. This is the reason why most of the artists take active part to influence more and more people especially when it comes to empowering women in terms of health. Here are a few international female celebs who have been supporting the Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign and are also empowering women through their tireless efforts and support.

Reese Witherspoon She has been a long-time activist and philanthropist. She’s the honorary chairperson for the Avon Foundation for Women, US, since 2007. The foundation supports breast cancer research and domestic violence prevention and Witherspoon participates actively in walks and other campaigns to raise awareness about breast cancer.

Elizabeth Hurley The 52-year-old actress is a well known champion of breast cancer campaigns. She is the Global Ambassador of Estee Lauder’s breast cancer campaign, who pledged her allegiance to the brand’s 2016 breast cancer campaign. Hurley said, “This year, we celebrate a special milestone. 25 years ago, Evelyn H. Lauder co-created the pink ribbon, the worldwide symbol of breast health - and the Breast Cancer Campaign - which ignited a global movement that has helped fund innovative research and inspired meaningful action against the disease.”

Alicia Keys and Stella McCartney Singer Alicia Keys and Fashion Designer Stella McCartney have teamed up for Breast Cancer Awareness. For the fourth year in a row, McCartney has created a lingerie set to benefit Breast Cancer Awareness. And Alicia Keys is the face of the campaign. Both McCartney and Keys aim to raise awareness about the importance of early detection.

Christina Applegate Applegate has been dancing since she was three years old and is a cancer survivor herself. The actress has teamed up with ‘Dancers Against Cancer’ to raise awareness about the charity, which provides financial support and inspiration to individuals in the dance community and their families who have been impacted by cancer.

Geri Halliwell She has been a patron of Breast Cancer Care in UK for almost 17 years. She joined the cause in 2000 when she was still a Spice Girl. Since then, Geri has helped raise thousands of pounds and has supported many campaigns including Pink Fridays and Tickled Pink.