DUBAI // Breast cancer awareness took to the beach yesterday and pink kites took to the air urging women to get regular health check-ups and heed the message that early detection saves lives.
As a colourful display soared above Kite Beach in Dubai, hundreds of beachgoers heard about the need for self-examination, check-ups from the age of 20 and mammograms after the age of 40.
“Campaigns like these start conversations in our community and conversations lower fear,” said Linda Berlot, a cancer survivor who had a mastectomy after breast cancer was diagnosed four years ago.
“Catching it really early meant that although I did need to have a mastectomy, I didn’t need chemotherapy or radiation. So if you catch it early not only can it be cured, it can also alter the course of your treatment.
“Women don’t go in for mammograms because they are afraid so they stay away. I get a lot of questions like, ‘Does the mammogram hurt?’ or ‘How do I support somebody who has breast cancer?’”
The family event on the beach was part of the BurJuman’s Safe & Sound campaign where a charity fundraising app was launched and skydivers delivered an on-message aerial show.
BurJuman pledged to donate Dh100,000 when the total distance walked reaches the 50,000 kilometres this year.
“This is so essential in a multicultural place like Dubai because you catch everybody on the beach, you reach families and kids with information,” said Stephanie Alam, a nurse in a city hospital who spent the day at the beach.
“It’s important that people know that it can affect young girls, you can be fully health and have breast cancer.”
Dr Houriya Kazim, the first Emirati female surgeon, said it was vital to reach large audiences.
“It doesn’t affect just the woman but the whole family,” said Dr Kazim, who founded the support group Brest Friends which in partnership with the Al Jalila Foundation will conduct breast cancer research in the UAE.
“The more word gets out, the more people will stop thinking it can only happen to somebody else. People begin to think about it when they see women who look like them who have had breast cancer and survived.”
Another group, the Pink Caravan, an initiative by the Friends of Cancer Patients charity, will end a separate campaign today at Jumeirah Beach Residence.
The programme included free breast cancer screenings and discussions with the audiences about the disease.
Over the past five years, Pink Caravan offered free screenings to more than 34,400 Emirati citizens and expatriates, including 7,873 men.
rtalwar@theantional.ae
