By Naveed Rozais
October marked International Breast Cancer Awareness Month and breast cancer organisations and charities across the world launched campaigns on raising awareness on and the treatment of breast cancer, one of the most frequent cancers to affect women. 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.
While Sri Lanka faced the emergence of a second wave of Covid-19 in October, breast cancer awareness and support organisation, the Indira Cancer Trust conducted a mindful series and breast cancer awareness exercises over the course of the month focusing on virtual events in lieu of the physical events they had intended to have.
“We initially thought of holding a high tea as a fundraiser, to be the start of our breast cancer awareness activities, but because of the current situation, we couldn’t do this,” Indira Cancer Trust Fundraising Co-ordinator Dhakshinie Karunaratne explained, adding: “We have instead done about 12 projects, a lot of webinars, virtual events, and press conferences to create breast cancer awareness. We were able to spread the message across TV, radio, and print media. The month has been very, very successful in terms of awareness.”
Among the various events held to mark Breast Cancer Awareness Month were “light-ups” with key areas in Colombo being lit up in pink. The areas that were lit up in solidarity were the Lipton Circus Roundabout and the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) in early October, and the Lotus Tower on 26 October, marking the first time Sri Lanka has taken part in the global illumination programme held during International Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Other smaller events held to commemorate International Breast Cancer Awareness Month were a number of webinars organised by the Indira Cancer Trust in partnership with Lions Clubs International District 306 B2 as well as Lions Clubs chapters in India and Ghana, the Rotary Club of Colombo and Rotaract in RI District 3220, and Healthnet.
In addition to these webinars, the Indira Cancer Trust brokered small partnerships to promote the message of International Breast Cancer Awareness Month; the hotel Theva Residency was offering a special pink tea, the boutique 1948 was selling friendship bands with the proceeds being used to support breast cancer patients, and the Retail Edit by CFW was selling ribbons for breast cancer awareness.
The flagship event of this year’s International Breast Cancer Awareness Month was the Virtual Pink Walk/Run/Cycle event which took place between 22-25 October. Held in partnership with Colombo City Running, Colombo Night Run, the Triathlon Club Colombo, and Spinner, the Virtual Pink Walk/Run/Cycle is a platform on 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.
Speaking on taking such a sporting event virtual, Colombo Night Run Co-Founder Tharindu Wickramasekera shared that Colombo Night Run (CNR), along with Colombo City Runners (CCR), two of Colombo’s largest running communities, worked closely together on the virtual aspect of the Virtual Pink Walk/Run/Cycle event. “The idea was for people not to gather as a group in one place but to do the event individually, using any fitness app at their disposal to record their activity,” Wickramasekera explained, adding: “All participants had to do was fill out an online at registration form where they selected the activity and pledged the distance they would be running, walking, or cycling. Then at completion of their activity, they would share a picture of themselves and proof of the activity being completed, like a screenshot of their fitness app.”
Karunaratne of the Indira Cancer Trust shared that this was the first time the Indira Cancer Trust had attempted an event like a walk, and that the response was overwhelming. “Together we ran 1461.5 km, walked 605 km, and cycled 2965.6 km in 17 countries across five continents, wearing our best pink outfits to proudly promote Breast Cancer Awareness Month,” Karunaratne said.
Dennis Crasier of the Triathlon Club Colombo (TCC) also spoke about the Virtual Pink Walk/Run/Cycle event, explaining that drawing awareness to a key women’s health issue was very important to the TCC. “It is our vision to promote sports and the triathlon in particular. One of our specific goals is to promote sports for women. The TCC has a lot of members who are women, and we were very pleased to be able to be a part of the event. With all international races being cancelled, virtual sports events like this are important to keep athletes training.”
Reflecting on celebrating breast cancer awareness in the midst of a pandemic, Indira Cancer Trust Chairperson Dr. Lanka Jayasuriya Dissanayake shared that she was fairly confident that a new kind of progress has been made. “We worked very hard to promote the message that early detection saves lives. We promoted TLC (Touch-Look-Check) and this message is not something that ends on 31 October. We were able to develop standardised materials on breast examination with concise, clear-cut information on how and when to conduct self-examinations. This year, we saw a lot of media engagement, from TV to social media and interviews to print media.”
While the experience over the last month has been very encouraging for breast cancer awareness, Dr. Dissanayake shared that there is still more work to be done. “The campaign needs to go more to the grassroots,” Dr. Dissanayake explained, adding: “This was a start, but we need more traditional media to pass on the message. This year, we reached out to stakeholders who have high visibility on the ground, and we’re working with them to help carry messages forward at the grassroots level.
“The Virtual Pink Walk/Run/Cycle event was a great success with over 500 participants from 17 countries coming together to promote the message of monthly TLC,” Dr. Dissanayake said. “However, this message needs to go beyond this one month alone. It is very important that every woman over the age of 20 examines themselves every month. We received lots of support from print and electronic media with this year’s message and we hope to do this as an event every year to promote awareness.”
