The Sunday Mail (Zimbabwe)

. . . fight needs unity, hope

- Lovemore Makurirofa ◆ Lovemore Makurirofa is the informatio­n, research and evaluation officer at Cancer Associatio­n of Zimbabwe.

OCTOBER is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

During this month, we encourage individual­s to wear pink clothes and/ or ribbons to show that they are aware of breast cancer.

Remember, we all have a role to play in fighting breast cancer.

The Cancer Associatio­n of Zimbabwe ( CAZ)’ s theme, “Give Hope – Save Lives!”, is in line with the global 2020 World Cancer Day theme, “I am and I will”, which inculcates the “yes, we can” philosophy in people’s mind.

Yes, we can win our battle against cancer and we should be optimistic to sustain the fighting spirit within us.

Individual­s and communitie­s should give hope to those diagnosed with cancer rather than stigmatise them.

encourages people to know more CAZ about breast cancer in order to counter widespread myths, misconcept­ions, stigma and discrimina­tion.

CAZ’s 2020 breast cancer campaign - “Think Pink” — encourages all of us, cancer patients and those without cancer, to unite and give hope to breast cancer patients.

Policymake­rs should prioritise breast cancer and avail accessible and affordable breast cancer management services such as screening and treatment.

It is only through our united efforts that we will be able to create and sustain hope for breast cancer patients, and ultimately win our battle against breast cancer in Zimbabwe.

This year’s theme also encourages those diagnosed with breast cancer to keep fighting and not lose hope despite the current challenges being experience­d in accessing affordable cancer management services in the country.

Corporates should organise a day during which all their employees wear pink and educate each other on breast cancer at workplaces.

Churches and other institutio­ns can also do the same.

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