Owning your story will take away the fear of cancer: Yuvraj
Cricketer Yuvraj Singh is a cancer survivor himself and hence understands the pain of the life-threatening disease. At a time when the stigma around the C-word is diminishing with more and more people sharing their survival stories, Yuvraj feels there’s still a lot to be done. And his cancer foundation, YouWeCan (YWC), is actively working to spread awareness about the disease along with helping patients suffering from it. October marks Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Yuvraj shares YWC’s plans to inspire people to come forward with their stories. Excerpts:
What are YWC’s plans for Breast Cancer Awareness month?
This month, our goal is to reach out to as many women as possible and help them get screened for breast cancer. We’ve planned awareness workshops and screening camps in corporate offices, rural areas and residential areas.
In the past years, what kind of breast cancer awareness initiatives has YWC been associated with?
We’ve done a lot of on-ground work in rural areas, reaching out to underprivileged communities, who don’t have access to mainstream health care facilities. Till now, we have screened over 1.5 lakh people for different types of cancers. In fact, about 80% of our work is based in the rural areas. Besides screening, our focus has been on educating women on the symptoms of breast cancer and on selfexamination techniques. Recently, we’ve started working in urban areas, conducting workshops in offices and residential women’s groups.
How do you aim to eradicate the stigma around breast cancer?
This is one of the reasons I started my foundation — to remove the stigma and fear associated with cancer. I feel one of the ways to tackle this is by celebrating and sharing more and more success stories by survivors. YouWeCan is working on various platforms, both online and offline, where cancer survivors can share their inspiring stories.
Do you agree that a lot of men, with women in their families suffering from breast cancer, know little about its symptoms? What is YWC doing in that area?
I agree. Husbands, brothers and fathers feel hesitant to talk to women about breast cancer. But that needs to change and that can happen through conversations. Whenever we’ve organised workshops or screening camps, we’ve tried to involve men in the dialogue.
Your wife, actor Hazel Keech has spoken about depression in the past. Have you thought of a campaign featuring her or other Bollywood actors to spread breast cancer awareness?
Hazel is very open to talk about depression and I’m proud that she has shown this courage, inspiring others. Her involvement in the foundation is helpful. She’s the goodwill ambassador of the foundation and does behind-the-scenes work. She regularly promotes the cause on various platforms.
Actor Ayushmann Khurrana’s wife, author Tahira Kashyap, shared her breast cancer story. Do you feel such stories also inspire and spread awareness among women?
Absolutely! I really admire Tahira’s courage and bravery. In a country where talking about cancer is brushed under the carpet, she came out as a warrior, breaking stereotypes, and as a result, inspiring many! I believe that owning your story and courageously talking about cancer will ultimate take away the stigma attached with the disease.
I really admire Tahira’s (Kashyap) courage and bravery. In a country where talking about cancer is brushed under the carpet, she came out as a warrior, breaking stereotypes, and as a result, inspiring many!
YUVRAJ SINGH CRICKETER