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Dubai: A Pink Bus for breast cancer awareness sets out today, focusing on communities in emirates that have been largely sidelined in the UAE's previous breast cancer awareness efforts.
A combined effort by Procter and Gamble (P&G), the Ministry of Health and Welcare Group, the Pink Bus - pink is the colour for breast cancer awareness - will tour all seven emirates during October as part of the national breast cancer awareness programme. Healthcare workers on board will distribute brochures, medical information and referral phone numbers, and conduct lectures on methods of self-examination.
Ignorance
Serene Haddad, brand manager at P&G, told Gulf News at the press launch that previous breast cancer awareness programmes have been focused on Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi, leaving many in other parts of the UAE ignorant about the disease.
"We will go to Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi, but we will also focus on the outskirts and other emirates, where reach has been minimal," she said.
She said the bus would stop at locations where women often congregate including universities, ladies clubs and shopping malls, adding that the company and the Ministry of Health hope to make the Pink Bus a year-long initiative depending on the outcome of their first tour.
Serene said it was important to drive home the message of breast cancer awareness and ways to prevent it among all communities in the UAE.
"Breast cancer is still a taboo here. People feel a lump and they ignore it ... they only go to the hospital two years later. By then the cancer has spread," she said.
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