National campaign for breast cancer awareness launched in Riyadh

RIYADH: Riyadh Gov. Prince Faisal bin Bandar on Friday held a ceremony to launch the national campaign for breast cancer awareness titled “Minutes Can Be Transformed Into Years,” organized by Zahra Breast Cancer Association, in cooperation with many governmental and non-governmental bodies. The ceremony was held at the Saudi Electricity Co. (SEC) Club.
Princess Haifa Al-Faisal, chairwoman of the Zahra association, stressed the importance of early detection of breast cancer. The secret of Zahra’s success is the cooperation and coordination between the public and private sectors, she added.
She signed four agreements, in the presence of Prince Faisal, between the association and King Abdullah Hospital, the Saudi National Committee for Mental Health Promotion, the Saudi Physical Therapy Association, and the Saleh Al-Alyan Organization.
Prince Faisal said: “We appreciate the important work of the Zahra association and I am happy to see such an organization, so I call on Princess Haifa and the fellow board members to continue their work, and I ask patients to cooperate with the association for their own interest.”
Meanwhile, the fight against cancer in women will top the agenda of the Ministry of Health during its participation in the global health awareness program to be launched in the Kingdom shortly.
According to an official from the ministry, creating awareness on the prevention of cancer will be a priority because of the increasing incidence of the disease in the Kingdom.
He added that the program will include several activities and awareness programs through social networking sites, malls, public places and parks.
Patients detected with breast cancer in the early stages through mammogram tests have a 95 percent chance of recovery from the disease.
He explained that the target group for mammogram tests includes women who are above the age 40, or are 30 to 40 years of age if the woman has a family history of the disease.