Preparations for Pink Caravan Ride 2015 commenced
The Pink Caravan, the pan-UAE 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.
The announcement was made during the first meeting of the Higher Steering Committee of the Pink Caravan Ride 2015, which was held at the Executive Office of H.H. Sheikha Jawaher bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, Wife of the Ruler of Sharjah, International Ambassador of the World Cancer Declaration for Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) and International Ambassador for Childhood Cancer for UICC, and Founder and Royal Patron of FoCP, The meeting, held in the presence of Ameera BinKaram; President of Board of Trustees and a founding member of FoCP, Dr. Sawsan Al Madhi, Secretary General of FoCP and Mohammed Jumaa Al Musharekh, Board Member Friends of FoCP and the members of the Ride’s Higher Steering Committee, also confirmed the final organisational structure of the 5th edition of the Pink Caravan Ride along with names of sub-committees .
"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. BinKaram pointed out that the UAE has become one of the leading countries in fighting breast cancer and reducing the burden of cancer," said BinKaram.
BinKaram added; "Due to the great support and continuous guidance of His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, and his wife, Sheikha Jawaher bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, 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%".
The meeting discussed The Pink Caravan's milestone achievements over the past four years. To date, 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. It has also managed to organise 585 awareness activations as well as donation campaigns and charity auctions.
Throughout the last four years, the examinations resulted in discovering 22 breast cancer cases that were all monitored by the Friends of Cancer Patients charity.
The Pink Caravan had previously selected a number of ambassadors to promote the initiative, with H.H. Sheikha Manal Bint Mohammed Bin Rashed Al Maktoum being the first Royal Ambassador in addition to a number of Sheikhs and prominent figures. In this regard, Sheikha Hessa bint Sultan bin Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan is the most recent ambassador, who was selected last year during the 4th Pink Caravan Ride in recognition of her outstanding efforts to support the initiative and her generous contribution in the humanitarian field.
It is worth mentioning that The Pink Caravan also took part in the 2014 World Cancer Congress, which took place in Melbourne, Australia, and hosted delegations from 115 countries.
Since its inception in 2011, The Pink Caravan has been raising awareness about the importance of the early detection of breast cancer, as well as highlighting the impact of this disease across the UAE.
The Pink Caravan's efforts have contributed to dispelling misconceptions and myths related to breast cancer, and providing financial and emotional support to patients and their families.
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