By IANS,
Hyderabad : The United States consulate general in Hyderabad has joined hands with the Ushalakshmi Breast Cancer Foundation for greater breast cancer awareness.
The Pink Ribbon Campaign will be organised Oct 7 to mark the beginning of the International Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Actor John Abraham and cricketer V.V.S. Laxman will be the star campaigners at the Pink Ribbon Walk to be held at the Kasu Brahmananda Reddy Park here Oct 7, in honour of women who have fought the illness with determination. The aim of the walkers is to raise awareness about the need for early detection of the disease.
Some prominent buildings in the city, like Charminar, the Buddha statue, the US consulate and Hyderabad Public School will be illuminated to demonstrate the strength of pink, a colour that represents breast cancer awareness.
“Our participation salutes women cancer survivors and encourages those fighting the disease not to give up. We walk together to show our solidarity and commitment to spread the word about early detection,” Consul General Katherine Dhanani told reporters here Wednesday.
Ushalakshmi Breast Cancer Foundation (UBF) has trained 1,200 healthcare workers to perform clinical breast examinations (CBE), used to detect breast cancer in its early stages.
Director of UBF Raghu Ram said trained healthcare workers would perform CBE on 50,000 poor women in Hyderabad.
“Women with signs of breast cancer will be referred to the nearest primary health centre. Women with no abnormalities will be examined again in two years. Data will be maintained by UBF with the help of TCS,” said Ram.
In India 1,00,000 women are newly diagnosed with breast cancer every year, a number that has overtaken cervical cancer. This figure is expected to increase to 1,30,000 by 2020.
Around 50,000 women die from breast cancer every year in India and it has become the leading cause for death among women in metropolitan cities.
More than one million women worldwide are diagnosed with breast cancer annually.