A number of events have been lined up in Bahrain to mark Breast Cancer Awareness Month starting tomorrow.
These include activities, initiatives and programmes to raise funds and awareness.
People will also dress up in pink or sport rosy-hued ribbons to show their solidarity with women who currently have breast cancer as well as to symbolise their courage and hope for the future.
The Bahrain Cancer Society (BCS) will be holding events to encourage women to undergo early detection tests, learn breast self-examination and follow the recognised health patterns in this field.
“BCS aims to intensify and encourage citizens to participate in this movement,” said BCS executive manager Ahmed Al Nowakhda.
“We seek to underline the importance of early detection while also promoting good nutrition, living a healthy lifestyle and maintaining a healthy weight combined with physical activity to reduce the risk of cancer and promoting overall health.
“Our events will include distribution of educational material and sale of cancer awareness items at our Adliya headquarters and event locations.”
Vibrant pink hues is expected to glow across Manama’s skyline tomorrow as key landmarks will be lit up in the colour throughout the entire month.
The society has also lined up a series of lectures about breast cancer throughout the month.
Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers locally and globally.
According to statistics from the World Health Organisation’s International Agency for Research on Cancer, 2,261,419 infections worldwide were recorded in 2020.
BCS president and chairman of the board of directors Dr Abdulrahman Fakhro had told the GDN that the incidence of the disease in Bahrain was estimated to increase by five per cent every year. Statistics released in 2020 also showed that at least 20.1pc of Bahrain’s population is suffering from it.
Statistics from BCS indicate that 244 cases of breast cancer were recorded among cancers affecting women, followed by colorectal cancer (10pc), ovarian cancer (5.9pc), uterine cancer (5pc), and lung cancer (4.8pc).
The BCS’s annual walkathon will be held on October 14 at Water Garden City in Seef with people gathering at 4pm and starting the 4km walk at 5.30pm.
BCS, which was established in 1991, has been organising these walkathons for the past 20 years to raise funds for the society to help purchase medical devices and equipment such as the Neuro Navigator in 2018, the MultiPulse HoPLUS high-power holmium laser device in 2019 and the Mortech Elevating Pathology Grossing Station in 2020.
The BD200,000 Neuro Navigator assists the Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC) in the diagnosis and treatment of brain tumours and central nervous system conditions.
The BD130,000 MultiPulse HoPLUS is ideal for both surgical treatment of prostate hyperplasia and endoscopic treatments of lithotripsy.
The BD14,000 Grossing Station enables pathologists to inspect surgical specimens with the naked eye, allowing them to obtain initial, diagnostic information before samples are sent for further microscopic examination.
In 2020, the BCS held a virtual walkathon to help raise funds for a state-of-the-art Autostainer medical device to be donated to the SMC.
The BCS also helped in increasing the capacity of beds in the Paediatric Oncology Unit in 2020 at SMC by adding two more rooms to cope with the increased number of patients. The number of total beds for inpatients is now 10 instead of six.
The society also supports cancer patients who need financial aid, in particular expatriates.
For more details, email bahraincancer@gmail.com, info@bahraincancer.com or call 17233080.
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