- Schools to be requested to raise awareness on the same during morning assemblies
The Parliament, led by the Women Parliamentarians’ Caucus, is scheduled to grant a debate on breast cancer awareness.
This month (October) is considered the Global Breast Cancer Awareness Month or ‘Pink Month’, and in line with this, a special awareness session on breast cancer prevention and related programmes were held on 9 October in the Parliament for the Women MPs’ Caucus.
This meeting was held under the patronage of Samanmali Gunasingha, who was temporarily appointed as the Chairperson of the Caucus. At the session, the Director of the National Cancer Control Programme, along with other medical professionals, briefed the Caucus.
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 the treatment of breast cancer can lead to a cure and stressed the importance of breast self-examination, in addition to medical screenings.
It was also revealed that awareness programmes have commenced at the school level. Under the initiative called ‘Pink Wednesday’, a programme to increase breast cancer awareness was launched for the first time at the Colombo Musaeus College.
Accordingly, students at the school wear pink ties on the first Wednesday of every month. The members stressed the need to expand this awareness and the programmes throughout the country. It was also decided to send a letter to the Ministry of Education, requesting all schools to raise awareness on this issue among students during their morning assemblies.
