Pink Caravan backs its medical team with 50 more medical staff

The Pink Caravan will be led by Emirati and expat horseback riders who will travel across the country to spread the message of hope amongst women and encourage them to perform self-examinations and go for regular medical checkups.

The Pink Caravan campaign, the first initiative of "Kashf" program, which is an initiative of the Friends of Cancer Patients, began its first phase last year with the aim of spreading awareness about the importance of conducting regular examinations for early breast cancer detection.

The campaign also aims to raise funds for financing hi-tech medical equipment and a mobile clinic equipped with the latest technology so as to make it accessible to all people in remote areas, as well as to establish a cancer registry within the UAE.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Sawsan Al Madhi, Head of Pink Caravan's Medical and Awareness Committee and FOCP Secretary General, said: "We hope that the second round of our campaign would bear its fruits and rise to our aspirations of minimizing the number of cancer cases in the country as much as we can."

"We look forward to spreading the concept of regular medical checkups for breast cancer, especially for those who have had checkups over a year ago since the first examinations were conducted," Dr. Sawsan added.

She lauded the great support given to the campaign by all individuals, government and private organizations, in addition to the constructive media support which contributed effectively to the identification of breast cancer and facilitated the campaign's mission of reaching out to a larger number of people, especially those who live in remote areas and can not get the chance to undergo regular breast cancer examinations.

She stressed that the Pink Caravan's doors are open to all physicians and medical technicians who wish to volunteer and join the campaign.

Dr. Sawsan extended her profound thanks to all those who contributed to the success of the campaign's first round during which more than 10,000 screenings were conducted, among these are cases of people who are still following up their medical treatment after they were diagnosed with the disease.

The campaign, which began on February 11th and will continue to run until 2014, was launched under the patronage of His Royal Highness Dr. Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, and in line with the directives of Sheikha Jawaher bint Sultan Al Qasimi, Wife of HRH Dr. Sheikh Sultan and Chairperson of the Supreme Council of Family Affairs.

The second round of the Pink Caravan campaign will kick off soon and the details of its course will be announced later.

The Pink Caravan was launched in its first round on 2nd February, 2011 and conducted a 10-day journey across the country last year.