BusinessWire India
Gurugram (Haryana) [India], October 11:Cricketer, cancer survivor and philanthropist Yuvraj Singh's YouWeCan Foundation, which is a non-profit organization that works extensively in the field of public health in India with a focus on cancer control, will be hosting breast cancer awareness camps across 17 states of India in October 2024 on the occasion of the Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The camps will be held in Goa, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Delhi.
Breast Cancer Awareness Workshops will be held as part of these camps, wherein the Foundation aims to educate around 25,000 women, both directly and indirectly, on the importance of breast cancer awareness, the risk factors of breast cancer, understanding of signs and symptoms and how to perform self-breast examinations for early detection. Throughout the month, Breast Cancer Screening Sessions will also be held with the aim of screening around 10,000 women across 17 states for early-stage detection of breast cancer. The screening will be done free of cost in under-resourced communities.
Regarding the need for more awareness and screening for early detection of breast cancer, Yuvraj Singh said, "Early detection is the key to fighting cancer effectively. Through YouWeCan, we aim to raise awareness about breast cancer and provide free screening to women across the country. No one should lose their life because they were unaware of their condition or couldn't afford timely treatment. We are committed to saving lives by ensuring that every woman has access to the knowledge and resources she needs to fight this disease."
YouWeCan Foundation has also launched an advertising campaign called 'Your Health is in Your Hands'. The campaign aims to create awareness among women about the need for regular self-breast-examination for early-stage detection of breast cancer. It will be run in the women's coach of Yellow Line of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) throughout the month of October. Additionally, the campaign will run on the social media pages of the Foundation.
The 'Your Health is in Your Hands' campaign uses oranges as metaphors for breasts to showcase that women's health is in their hands, literally. This aims to divert their attention into understanding that they can examine their breasts regularly every month, to notice any abnormal signs or lumps that are currently unknown to them and detect any danger signs early. The anticipated reach of the month-long campaign in Delhi Metro is 1.5 Lakh. Another 10 Lakh people are expected to be reached through the social media campaign.
In India, a woman dies of breast cancer every 8 minutes (Source: Breast Cancer India - a complete resource on Breast Cancer in India). The high mortality rate is due to a lack of awareness and delay in screening and diagnosis. As per NFHS-5, only 9 out of 100 women have ever participated in breast cancer screening in India. Many women with breast cancer have no symptoms. This is why regular breast cancer screening is so important. The first step to fight cancer is by fighting ignorance for a disease that affects all the women of India and is projected to grow up to 3 million by 2023 around the world.
Through this campaign, YouWeCan Foundation endeavours to bring about two emotions: shock and curiosity. The element of shock would be generated through statistics that are real and that show that all women, no matter which strata of the society they belong to, are at risk and how early detection can save lives. The campaign would also aim at making women curious about the signs and symptoms they should look for during self-examination of their breasts. In order to do that, women need to leave shame behind and know their breasts well.
Yuvraj Singh's mother Shabnam Singh, who is the Chairperson of YouWeCan Foundation, emphasised on the need for regular self-examination and screening and explained what the Foundation aims to achieve through this campaign. She said, "In today's busy world, it's easy to forget the importance of looking after ourselves. Regular self-examinations and screenings are not just medical steps--they are acts of care for our own well-being. By taking control of our health, we protect both ourselves and those we love. Through this campaign, our Foundation aims to raise awareness about the power of early detection. We are dedicated to ensuring that every woman has the knowledge and access to regular screenings. No one should have to face breast cancer alone. Together, we can build a supportive community focused on awareness, prevention, and survival."
Oranges have been used as the metaphors for breasts to catch the attention of the audience and impart information on why knowing your body and checking could save your life. The campaign has two main text panels; the first panel expresses the need to 'get to know your oranges' and build curiosity on 'How?' while the second panel mentions how checking your oranges could save your life. When one looks closely at the stack of oranges, they will notice different prominent signs of breast cancer that often go unnoticed. For more information, the viewers can scan the QR that directs them to YouWeCan Foundation's Instagram page.
YouWeCan Foundation's breast cancer initiatives aim to educate, detect and empower. So far, through various initiatives taken by the Foundation, over 1.22 Lakh women have been screened for breast cancer, more than 2.48 Lakh women have been educated and trained on breast cancer, and 57 women are undergoing treatment.
In October 2021, YouWeCan Foundation launched a pilot project called 'Swasth Mahila Swasth Goa' in collaboration with the Government of Goa & SBI Foundation, to screen 1 lakh women for breast cancer. The Foundation introduced a low-cost technology innovation for breast cancer screening and deployed 20 such devices across Primary Health Centres and Community Health Centres in Goa along with a 10-member team to train Auxiliary Nurses, Midwives and Asha Workers to conduct the screening. 1.2 Lakh women have been screened in Goa till date, and 2,495 suspected cases were found of which 62 turned out to be positive cases. 57 of those women are currently undergoing treatment for breast cancer. Due to its massive success, and enhanced demand for continued support on the ground for re-screening of the age-eligible population, Swasth Mahila Swasth Goa project has been renewed for another 2 years with a goal of screening an additional 1,05,000 women in Goa.
In June 2024, YouWeCan Foundation launched the 'Swasth Mahila Swasth Bharat' project in collaboration with Xiaomi India, to screen 1.5 Lakh women by 2025 for breast cancer across 15 aspirational districts in 15 states of India. The Foundation has already initiated screenings in several states under this project.
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