Sharjah: The annual Pink Caravan breast cancer awareness drive across the UAE is set to start on March 7 next year.
In four months, a mobile clinic and a convoy of horses and jockeys wearing high-visibility pink jackets will ride across the UAE for ten days. The caravan will offer free medical screenings to communities across the country, and offer advice.
Held every year since 2011, the Pink Caravan has so far offered free early detection examinations to 41,356 men and women of various nationalities and age groups in the country. Last year, over 4,000 people were screened.
Breast cancer is the most common type of carcinoma affecting women worldwide and accounting for 16 per cent of all female cancers. About 1.1 million women across the world are diagnosed with breast cancer every year, and around 40 per cent of these die of the disease.
However, breast cancer is highly treatable if discovered in its early stages.
The campaign also teaches women who are aged 20 or above to conduct self-examination, and recommends that they get a clinical breast exam done every year.
The Pink Caravan’s patron is Shaikha Jawaher Bint Mohammad Al Qasimi. wife of His Highness Dr Shaikh Sultan Bin Mohammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah.
Shaikha Jawaher is also the founder and royal patron of the Friends of Cancer Patients Society (FoCP), International Ambassador of the World Cancer Declaration for Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) and International Ambassador for Childhood Cancer for UICC.
The Pink Caravan has “saved the lives of many and brought a positive change for people and communities on a national scale”, said Shaikha Jawaher.
