Dubai: A two-day awareness campaign on early detection of breast cancer will be held at Jumeirah Beach Residence (JBR) with free examinations and other activities organised for families and children.

JBR, a Dubai Properties (DP) retail destination, announced that it will be hosting Pink Caravan’s campaign event, a pan-UAE breast cancer awareness initiative by Friends of Cancer Patients (FoCP), on October 14 and 15 between 10am and 10pm.

The event will include the free breast cancer examination clinic, the Pink Caravan Golden Hands Exhibition and the Hope of Tree, including a designated children’s area at the event, which will offer pony rides, a bouncy castle and a variety of entertaining activities. This year, the event will also include a Nail Spa station to support this awareness campaign.

There was a great response last year, with over 200 examinations taking place at the event, according to organisers, but this year’s intention is to increase the number of visitors to the caravan, including the number of examinations taken.

Pink Caravan has worked hard to spread the message of breast cancer awareness during the month of October, which is observed globally as the month to raise public awareness about this disease, which can affect men as well as women.

Dr Sawsan Al Madhi, director-general of FoCP and Head of Pink Caravan’s Medical and Awareness Committee, said Pink Caravan is passionately dedicated to educating the UAE community about the invaluable benefits of early detection of breast cancer.

She added, “Being the second leading cause of death in women in the UAE and region, Pink Caravan diligently works towards spreading a proactive culture in the UAE community, where breast self-examination becomes a monthly routine in everyone’s daily life. We extend our warm gratitude to Dubai Properties for supporting Pink Caravan’s mission for the second year and communicating awareness among their residential communities.”

Juma Bin Darwish, executive director, Retail and Hotel Asset Management at Dubai Properties, said: “We strongly believe that JBR is an ideal venue to help raise this important cause. After a successful event last year, we are focused on spreading further the awareness programme to a much wider audience, considering JBR’s popularity and expected attendance.”

During its annual ride in 2015, the Pink Caravan, through its mobile clinics, offered free breast cancer screening to more than 5,000 Emirati and expatriates, bringing the total number of people examined to over 34,400, including 7,873 men, over the past five years.

The medical examinations were conducted by a fully equipped team consisting of 150 medical staff, including doctors, nurses, assistants and technicians, with Emirati doctors constituting 62 per cent of the participating physicians.

Programme and Activities:

• Medical booth station

• Nail spa station

• Pony rides and bouncy castle

• Tree of Hope

• Golden Hands Exhibition

• Mobile mammography Unit

• Pink decoration

• Food trucks

• Roaming entertainment

• Pink graffiti artist