Pink Caravan screens 29,000 for breast cancer

Campaign puts UAE in frontline of disease battle.

Asil Chaar, coordinator of Pink Caravan, speaks to patients about their mammography test. Jeffrey E Biteng / The National

SHARJAH // The Pink Caravan, the UAE’s breast cancer awareness initiative by the Friends of Cancer Patients charity (FoCP), has announced that 29,000 women and men of all ages and nationalities across the country were offered free early breast cancer detection screenings over the past four years.

According to state news agency Wam, Ameera bin Karam, president of board of trustees and a founding member of FoCP, pointed out that the UAE has become one of the leading countries in fighting breast cancer and reducing the burden of cancer.

“It gives us great pleasure to review the achievements of The Pink Caravan over the past four years, which have contributed to dispelling the myth about breast cancer, and encouraged thousands of women and men to undergo early detection examinations,” said BinKaram

“The Pink Caravan has managed to raise awareness about breast cancer and has offered free screenings to 29,000 women and men who underwent early breast cancer detection examinations, which contribute to raising the survival rates up to 98 per cent,” she said.

The Pink Caravan has provided free breast cancer screenings to 22,418 women and 6,531 men of all nationalities across the UAE, including 10,082 Emirati women and men, and 18,867 expatriate residents.

The examinations resulted in discovering 22 breast cancer cases that were monitored by the FoCP. It has also managed to organise 585 awareness activations as well as donation campaigns and charity auctions.

Since its launch in 2011, the charity has been raising awareness about the importance of the early detection of breast cancer, as well as highlighting the effect of the disease across the UAE.

The Pink Caravan said its efforts have contributed to dispelling misconceptions and myths related to breast cancer, and providing financial and emotional support to patients and their families