Eighth pan-UAE annual breast cancer awareness campaign begins Feb 28, 2018

As the UAE dedicates the entire year to celebrate the exemplary leadership, humanitarian action and charitable spirit of its founding father in the Year of Zayed, it is perhaps more important now than ever for all nationalities’ residing in UAE medical experts and cancer specialists to come forward in service to the annual pan-UAE breast cancer awareness campaign, the Pink Caravan Ride.

Gearing up for its 8th edition, the Friends of Cancer Patients (FoCP) initiative will once again take its message of the importance of early detection, regular checkups and timely treatment to communities residing across the seven emirates, staring February 28.

Registrations will be open for male and female health-care providers on http://www.pinkcaravan.ae/dr-registration.php from 17 January to 11 February Registration is open to those covering general medicine, family medicine and radiology, plus X-Ray technicians and nurses.

“The significance of the general medicine, family medicine and radiology, plus X-Ray technicians and nurses role in the success of a medical awareness campaign cannot be overstated – they constitute its very backbone. The annual Pink Caravan Ride has helped detect 47 cases of breast cancer that would have may have gone unnoticed otherwise. It is the dedicated efforts of our team of medical volunteers who have made this possible.

“We look forward to garnering maximum support from doctors and medical personnel this year to build on the success of our previous campaigns. Ultimately, the campaign’s outreach and how many lives we are able to touch and benefit depends greatly on the kind of support we receive from the nation’s healthcare system. I urge them all to take this opportunity to be of service to community, educate them, and take the UAE’s objective of creating a healthy, safe and aware nation another step further in the Year of Zayed,” said Dr Sawsan Al Madhi, Director General of FoCP and Head of the Pink Caravan Ride Medical and Awareness Committee.

Every year, through its mobile and fixed clinics, the Pink Caravan Ride provides citizens and residents with free screenings, which can be worth up to AED 1,000 in hospitals and clinics. It also provides detected breast cancer cases with moral support and medical treatments free of charge.

Since 2011, the Pink Caravan Ride has offered free screenings, checkups and medical consultations to approximately 49,000 people including 16,781 UAE nationals. Of these, 7,483 were screened in last year’s edition and 12 cases of malignancy were detected, making it the highest in Pink Caravan Ride’s history. These numbers were made possible by the medical volunteers from all nationalities that participated, some of whom were operating out of the fixed clinics which were installed in every emirate and offered checkups throughout the duration of the campaign.

The incidence of breast cancer in the UAE is high, and Pink Caravan is doing a significant job of spreading breast cancer awareness, especially the importance of regular screenings and checkups for early detection of the disease.