Breast cancer is one of the most frequent cancers to affect women. Globally, it affects approximately 2.1 million women each year. In Sri Lanka, breast cancer affects approximately 4,000 women each year. It is also one of the deadliest forms of cancer, accounting for 15% of all cancer-related deaths in women.
Awareness around breast cancer is essential, because in the majority of cases, early detection can make all the difference when it comes to getting effective treatment.
October is International Breast Cancer Awareness Month and sees breast cancer organisations and charities across the world launching campaigns that focus on breast cancer awareness and treatment of breast cancer.
The second wave of Covid-19 infections to hit Sri Lanka in early October has caused a dramatic shift in how we would mark Breast Cancer Awareness Month. With this in mind, breast cancer awareness and support organisation Indira Cancer Trust, in partnership with Colombo City Running, the Triathlon Club Colombo, and Colombo Night Run has embraced a virtual campaign in honour of Breast Cancer Awareness Month 2020.
The flagship of Indira Cancer Trust’s virtual activities for Breast Cancer Awareness Month 2002 is the Virtual Pink Walk/Run/Cycle event. Taking place entirely virtually, the Virtual Pink Walk/Run/Cycle is a platform within which participants can register online and then go on to do the activity of their choice (walking, running, or cycling), wherever they feel most comfortable, recording themselves through the fitness, running, or cycling app that they use on a daily basis. Once their activity is complete, participants only need to share their pink photo and activity details with the Indira Cancer Trust (through the appropriate link provided).
The Virtual Pink Walk/Run/Cycle event has received an outpouring of support with over 200 registrations and counting across 15 countries spanning five continents, and over 4,691 kilometres of walking, running, or cycling pledged. Participants have been asked to pledge a minimum of 3 km for walking or running and a minimum of 10 km for cycling which can be done on one day of the Virtual Pink Walk/Run/Cycle event or spread out over all four days of the event if desired.
The theme for Breast Cancer Awareness Month this year is “Give Hope. Save Lives”. The underlying message of Breast Cancer Awareness Month which is being heavily promoted by the Indira Cancer Trust is Touch, Look, Check (TLC) which gives a clear, simple message to women encouraging them to check their breasts every month for anything out of the ordinary as well as to look up information about the signs and symptoms of breast cancer. The knowledge that breast cancer exists is not enough; it is vital that all women over the age of 20 do a monthly self-breast examination on a fixed date and look for anything out of the ordinary.
The Virtual Pink Walk/Run/Cycle is the Indira Cancer Trust’s way of not letting the pandemic get in the way of spreading the message about breast cancer this year. Indira Cancer Trust Fundraising Co-ordinator Dhakshinie Karunaratne shared that there was initially a month of physical activities planned to commemorate Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The rise of Covid-19 infections in Sri Lanka in early October has meant a reworking of these plans with public health and safety in mind.
“On Friday, 16 October, we held a webinar with the Lions Club of Colombo District 306 B2 on breast cancer awareness, featuring the story of a breast cancer survivor. We will be hosting another similar webinar with the Rotary Club on 25 October,” Karunaratne shared, adding: “Areas of Colombo were also lit up in pink to commemorate Breast Cancer Awareness Month, including the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) which was lit in pink for the first week of October. Initially, the CMC was supposed to be lit for the entire month, but this changed with the second wave of Covid-19.”
The main calendar of events for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, was to be held from 22 to 25 October, including a fashion show, high tea, a Pink Walk, and a cycling event (Pink Pedalling). While the activity aspect of this calendar has been instituted into the Virtual Pink/Walk/Run/Cycle event, other aspects of the event schedule are being currently adapted for maximum impact during this time of social distancing.
Karunaratne shared that the high tea planned as part of the original roster of events was also to be a fundraising exercise with Spa Ceylon partnering with the Indira Cancer Trust to gift each woman in attendance with a Spa Ceylon gift pack. “With the high tea no longer possible due to Covid-19 restrictions, we are now offering tickets to the high tea for sale as donations to the cause, with the first 100 donations receiving a gift pack from Spa Ceylon,” Karunaratne noted.
“We are hoping to hold a panel discussion featuring Indira Cancer Trust Chairman Dr. Lanka Jayasuriya-Dissanayake, Dr. Janaki Vidanapathirana of the National Cancer Control Programme, Stephanie Siriwardhana, and Malini Fonseka, who is also a breast cancer survivor,” Karunaratne shared, adding: “The date and location of this panel discussion are still tentative; we hope to hold it at the Dutch Hospital Shopping Precinct in partnership with Spa Ceylon and make it a small, physical event which the general public can attend.”
In addition to building awareness about breast cancer, the Indira Cancer Trust also hopes to raise funds to help women fighting breast cancer. Established in November 2016, the Indira Cancer Trust offers an array of much-needed support services for people living with cancer, with a special emphasis on providing information on any type of cancer care. The Indira Cancer Trust also operates a highly useful cancer helpline that provides emotional support for women dealing with breast cancer, while providing several other very important services via the Indira Care Service and the Indira Paediatric Care Department and with the Apeksha Hospital Maharagama as well as the cancer wards of hospitals in Karapitiya and Nuwara Eliya.
All funds raised during Breast Cancer Awareness Month are being used to sponsor breast prostheses and wigs for women dealing with breast cancer. A breast prosthesis costs Rs. 500 to produce and a wig costs Rs. 12,500 to make and are provided free of charge to women in need by the Indira Cancer Trust.
It is the Indira Cancer Trust’s hope to build breast cancer awareness through the Virtual Pink Walk/Run/Cycle as well as the other events held during Breast Cancer Awareness Month encouraging every woman to remember TLC throughout the year to keep themselves safe and healthy.
The Virtual Pink Walk/Run/Cycle is to take place from 22 to 25 October. Participants may register at http://bit.ly/pinkTLC or the Virtual Pink Walk/Run/Cycle event page on Facebook.
By Naveed Rozais
