Dubai: Pink Caravan, the national breast cancer awareness initiative by the Friends of Cancer Patients society, has announced the postponement of its Annual Ride for 2014 to early next year.
The postponement aims to raise funds through an SMS campaign to buy and operate an advanced mobile mammography unit.
The SMS fund-raising campaign will be used to raise the Dh15 million needed to purchase and operate an advanced mobile mammography unit, in lieu of the rented unit Pink Caravan has been using for its pan-UAE screenings.
Pink Caravan highlighted that this decision comes in response to the great reception of PC’s mobile clinics in February, which attracted 5,214 people for breast cancer screening tests.
Ameera Binkaram, President of the Board of Trustees and a founding member of the FoCP, affirmed that the decision to postpone the ride would benefit a wider population in the coming years.
“We hope to be able, by the support of the community, to buy and operate the mobile mammogram unit, which will make it possible for us to avail free screening services all year round, not only during the Ride’s 11 days every year. Breast cancer affects more people every year from both sexes, and our goal is to minimise the breast cancer’s incidence in the UAE,” she said.
Rental unit
Pink Caravan has been renting a mobile mammography unit during its 11-day rides over the past three years, and providing free screenings to thousands of people.
Buying a unit will provide free screening services to more people throughout the year, even in remote areas that could not be covered in the past years, owing to the limited time and high rental costs of the unit.
In the meantime, Pink Caravan’s medical teams are following up on cases from the campaign that took place in February.
To donate Dh50, SMS PINK to 2305; for Dh100, SMS 2307; and for Dh500, SMS 2308.
