Breast Cancer Campaign Exclusively for Saudi Women

A far-reaching breast cancer and health awareness campaign will culminate in an all-day, all-women event to support the Zahra Breast Cancer Association in Riyadh. Princess Reema, a founding board member introduced 10KSA (for 10,000 in Saudi Arabia). // The event will gather an estimated 10,000 women to form the world's largest pink humanitarian ribbon on record. 10KSA will use the event as an opportunity to educate and organize around a variety of health issues in addition to breast cancer.

"The actual activity that we want to happen from this is that those 10,000 women become ambassadors for health awareness, who will go out into their communities and spread the message of total health, " said Princess Reema.

Social structures and stigmas significantly limit education and necessary action in Saudi Arabia, where breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death for women aged 20-59.

There is a need to constantly encourage and support these steps and there is extensive work to be done for women in rural areas while Saudi women in major cities are generally aware of the need for self-examination and mammograms.

"We take this dialogue to the rural areas and villages, where it is completely different, because we need kick up breast cancer as a mainstream dialogue, where there is no shame in discussing that part of the body," she tells Fast Company.

The funds raised will be used to sustain the organisation and to extend support for breast cancer patients in the regional areas. The 10KSA campaign also includes a short film, that features breast cancer survivors and their doctors and loved ones to further encourage the conversation in Saudi culture.

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Source-Medindia