Tawam Hospital launches extensive breast cancer awareness campaign during October 2009

This annual campaign is organized by Tawam Hospital and supported by the Health Authority of Abu Dhabi (HAAD), and SEHA, the Abu Dhabi Health Services Company, which is responsible for the curative activities of all the public hospitals and clinics in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.

The campaign will target all UAE residents, but the majority of activities will take place in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and particularly the remote areas of the emirate of Abu Dhabi that suffer from extremely low awareness levels.

This year, Tawam Hospital's BCAC is under the theme 'Early Detection is your Best Protection'. The campaign will comprise of daily and weekly awareness activities that are dedicated to educating women, men and families on breast cancer prevention in terms of early detection and regular screenings.

"Breast cancer should not and will not be a taboo in our community. This is why our campaign targets and encourages every woman, man and child in our society to learn more about the disease and how to detect it. Early detection of breast cancer is crucial for successful treatment, and people need to understand this in order to become more proactive in terms of taking regular screenings and self examinations seriously,"

said Dr. Shamsa Al Awar, Chairperson of Tawam Breast Cancer Awareness Committee.

Sumaya Al Harrasi, Head of Business Development, added, "Fun community-focused activities are also available throughout the month. The 3rd Annual Tawam Hospital 'Fun Run' at Al Tuwaya Public Park in Al Ain, is open for all to participate and is aimed at setting an example to the members of the community to start becoming more pro-active towards breast cancer prevention and early detection."

The Tawam Hospital BCAC has chosen the 26th of October to launch 'Pink Day'. Every year Tawam Hospital celebrates 'Pink Day' internally; Tawam staff show their support by wearing at least one pink item of clothing, either a t-shirt, tie or a simple ribbon. This year, Tawam has invited all members of the community to take part in this initiative. So far SEHA, HAAD, Al Ain Municipality, Etihad Airways and Al Ain Sports Club will be participating. Also, representatives from the media, including key TV presenters or hosts, will dedicate the 26th to dress in pink.

All activities taking place throughout the month of October 2009 will include free screening for women aged 40 and above (nationals and residents of Abu Dhabi), using the Tawam Hospital Mobile Mammography Van.

"All the activities we've chosen for the campaign are fun, simple and educational. But, most importantly, our campaign requires hands-on involvement and participation from our community. Our strategy here is to show people how easy it is to become aware and pro-active towards your own health; once we achieve this we hope that they will make it a habit to always take precautionary measures against breast cancer and other diseases as well," said Dr. Al Awar.

Based on the Abu Dhabi Community Profile findings prepared by the global initiative for Breast Cancer Awareness Team at HAAD, Breast Cancer has been identified to be the first of the ten most common cancers in the UAE for national and non-national women and the second cause of death accounting for 28% of all female deaths in the UAE. With notable high incidence and a mortality rate of 44%, due to late diagnosis, breast cancer is the most common cancer in women in the UAE and the leading cause of deaths amongst female malignant diseases.