October is the month of Breast Cancer Awareness and so my sister and I decided to do our bit to help with the cause. We conducted a campaign in our community to increase awareness about the disease and invited children and mothers to an event, which we hosted at our home.
We were truly inspired by our great grandmother, who was a breast cancer survivor. Breast cancer is a bitter reality. Do you know that it is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women? This is as stated by the World Cancer Research Fund International.
Any woman can be a victim, but doctors have found that certain factors make women more vulnerable, such as family history, age and an unhealthy diet and lifestyle factors.
Many women lose their lives because the cancer is detected late. However, a simple self-exam can help detect this disease early and increase the survival rates to as high as 85 per cent! Early detection is therefore the best protection and in fact the key to survival.
Therefore, at our event, we gave the attendees a talk on breast cancer, to increase their knowledge and awareness about the disease and the fact that prevention is better than cure. Children were motivated to convince their mothers to conduct self-exams every month, to detect any abnormalities in time and get them checked by a doctor. All the children present took the pledge to pester their mums to take a monthly self-exam.
Pink ribbons, which are the symbols of breast cancer awareness, were distributed and there was a pink photo booth created so attendees could take pictures. Through this report, I want to urge all readers to spread the power of pink and make a difference.
— The reader is a pupil based in Dubai. Be a community reporter. Tell us what is happening in your community. Send us your videos and pictures at readers@gulfnews.com
