All female MPs to wear pink to support cancer awareness

Colombo, Oct. 16 (Daily Mirror) - All female parliamentarians and parliamentary staff have decided to wear pink on a selected day in the next parliamentary week to support Breast Cancer Awareness.

They also agreed to request for a debate in Parliament on Breast Cancer Awareness.

A special awareness session on breast cancer prevention and related programmes was held recently in Parliament for the Women Parliamentarians' Caucus in line with the Global Breast Cancer Awareness Month or “Pink Month”.

This meeting was held under the patronage of MP Samanmali Gunasingha, who was temporarily appointed as Chairperson of the Caucus due to the overseas engagement of the Caucus Chairperson, Minister Saroja Savithri Paulraj. 

At the session, the Director of the National Cancer Control Programme, along with other medical professionals, briefed the Women Parliamentarians' Caucus on breast cancer prevention.

They highlighted that breast cancer is the most common cancer among women worldwide. In Sri Lanka, approximately 15 new cases are diagnosed daily, with about three deaths occurring each day. The doctors emphasised that early detection and treatment of breast cancer can lead to a cure and stressed the importance of breast self-examination (BSE) in addition to medical screenings.

It was also revealed that awareness programmes have started at the school level in Sri Lanka. Under the initiative called “Pink Wednesday,” a programme to increase breast cancer awareness was launched for the first time at Musaeus College Colombo with support from various organidations. Accordingly, students at the school wear pink ties on the first Wednesday of every month in support of this programme. The members stressed the need to expand this awareness and other programmes throughout the country.