Come October, the colour pink turns an activist to draw attention to a global health problem that takes the lives of thousands of women each year — breast cancer. The Breast Cancer Awareness Month, observed globally, is predicated on the fact that sustained awareness and information on this dreaded disease will lead to more women taking charge of their health. According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer, breast cancer ranks as the fifth cause of death from cancer overall (522,000 deaths worldwide), while it is the most frequent cause of cancer death in women in less developed regions (324,000 deaths). Even in developed nations, it is now the second cause of cancer death (198,000 deaths) after lung cancer. These are chilling figures and bring home the truth that the battle against breast cancer is never going to be a brief skirmish. While the pink month courts credibility and has its role to play, it also brings in celebrity hoopla that is often guilty of glazing over the grit. This makes it more important to keep the focus on the core problem and find solutions for it. While breakthrough medical treatments are critical to beating back breast cancer — and much work is being done in this field — other important objectives to achieve are making the treatment more affordable, creating a new socio-psychological understanding of breast cancer’s implications on a woman’s mental and emotional well-being and creating solutions to address those concerns. There is a lot of work to be done and every October is a reminder of that.