#MomINeedYou: Joyalukkas launches breast cancer awareness campaign
DUBAI:
While breast cancer deaths in the UAE have declined by almost 10%, and late detection of the disease has gone down from 64% to 16%, there is a growing concern about the rise in incidences amongst women under 40 years of age. It is with this insight that the Joyalukkas Group has launched Think Pink 2016, with the banner #MomINeedYou. The campaign is aimed at motivating all women, especially mothers, to conduct self-examinations diligently and regularly.
#MomINeedYou comprises a monthlong multimedia campaign featuring children of UAE residents and their personal messages encouraging their mothers to conduct regular self-examinations. A viral video initiative will present what UAE mothers believe is the most important thing they do for their families’ vis-‡vis what their families think should be their priority.
“When we took the ‘pink pledge’ in 2011,” says Mrs Sonia Alukkas, Director, Joyalukkas Group, “we put the strength of our entire network across 11 countries behind it and received an overwhelmingly positive response from over 10 million customers. Our commitment to raising awareness and preventing breast-cancer related deaths remains strong today, perhaps made even stronger because of the support of many health organizations and specialists in the UAE.”
The Think Pink campaign, supported by the Dubai Health Authority, was launched in October 2011 and has successfully increased awareness of the benefits of early detection against breast cancer with the cooperation of over 40 health organizations. To date, more than 40,000 participants have benefited from the campaign’s free breast screening facilities and community awareness activities.
“This year,” says Mr Joy Alukkas, Chairman & MD, Joyalukkas Group, “we wanted to drive home the message that early detection saves not only the lives of women, but also that of their children. We are all aware of how devastating late detection of breast cancer can be for the victims, but sometimes we forget that it is the children whose mothers are diagnosed with cancer that stand to lose the most. ‘Mom I Need You’ is a heartfelt plea to all women to take care of them so that no child is left behind to suffer the consequences.”
“As a mother,” says Mrs. Jolly Joy, Director & Head of CSR, Joyalukkas Group, “my family is very important to me and the wellbeing of my children is my priority. Sometimes they need to remind me to slow down and take care