BREAKING BARRIERS: ROLE OF PINK RIBBON TO COMBAT BREAST CANCER IN PAKISTAN
Written by Noor I Najam Khan
Introduction
Pink Ribbon is a non-funded and self-sustained organization, solely working with all its dedication to the awareness of breast cancer in Pakistan since 2004. The main mission of Pink Ribbon is to combat breast cancer by fostering widespread awareness through community engagement focused on prevention, early detection, and enhanced access to treatment. The organization is taking a significant initiative of constructing Pakistan’s First Dedicated Breast Cancer Hospital in Lahore, Pakistan to fight breast cancer and reduce mortality rates caused by it.
Founder and CEO Omer Aftab
Mr. Omer Aftab has been dedicatedly working towards the cause of raising awareness for breast cancer since 2004, breaking the taboo against breast cancer and facing many challenges in achieving his primary goal. He has taken it upon himself to save the lives of thousands of women across Pakistan with his organization's efforts. The main impetus was a personal experience where his close friend battled against breast cancer without adequate resources and facilities in Pakistan. Therefore, he aims to make Pink Ribbon a Centre of Excellence for Breast Care Information. In a recent interview conducted with
Mr. Omer Aftab, I was able to gain insight into his strategies, goals, challenges, and motivation to continue working devotedly for this purpose.
Interview with Mr. Omer Aftab
Q. What inspired the creation of your Organization Pink Ribbon and what was the main force behind its establishment?
[Mr. Omer Aftab]: It has been almost 22 years since I started this organization. The concept of starting Pink Ribbon in Pakistan was due to the fact that Pakistan has the highest rate of breast cancer in the whole of Asia. 1 in 9 Pakistani women are unfortunately at risk of breast cancer. Internationally, the most common age of getting breast cancer is 55 years whereas in Pakistan the average age is 35 years. Today, even younger girls below the age of 20 are being diagnosed with breast cancer, with an alarming increase in its incidence. 109 women die every 24 hours due to breast cancer in Pakistan. Over 40,000 deaths a year with an addition of 90,000 new breast cancer cases annually is a matter of serious concern. Therefore, the campaign was started to raise awareness and combat the increasing incidence of breast cancer.
Q. What are some of the biggest challenges you faced in your journey as founder of Pink Ribbon?
[Mr. Omar Aftab]: Initially it was very challenging because talking about Breast cancer at any level was almost impossible. When we launched our campaign all the TV channels backed out because they refused to take the word breast on television. In the initial few years, we had to face various challenges at every level as we had to go to different communities and talk about this issue one by one. However, we still wanted to work on breast cancer: it is the only cancer that can be diagnosed at an early stage because all the symptoms are external. Otherwise, all other cancers develop inside the body and it's very difficult to detect it at an early stage. The campaign mainly revolves around the concept of early detection and enhanced treatment, informing young women of the symptoms and providing them with assistance on what they should do if they are diagnosed and where they should go for diagnosis. Pink Ribbon has a holistic approach, so on one end we run awareness programs across Pakistan, on the other hand, we are engaged with the government for strategic interventions, especially in terms of access to treatment and health care as well as therapy. We are not only working on its detection and treatment but also on prevention, taking a holistic approach. There are lots of misconceptions about breast cancer, breaking the taboos around breast cancer was significant in creating awareness. We have come across many women, who despite recognizing their symptoms refused to talk about them to their families and did not seek professional help. The families also refused to seek treatment due to the stigma against breast cancer in society.
Q. Is there anything that motivates you personally to lead this organization?
[Mr. Omer Aftab]: From a very early age, I was active in volunteering, and coming from a business family my father took me to the business world at a very young age. During my time at the office, the idea of volunteering was always at the back of my head so I started to expand my interest and took initiatives at the basic level. Eventually, I started working on women's health and women's economic empowerment, during this time one of my close colleagues was diagnosed with breast cancer. She persuaded me to take the initiative on breast cancer, and with her, I got the opportunity to visit a few hospitals and personally meet breast cancer patients. Hearing about my colleague’s journey: how she was treated and dealt with, motivated me to start working on breast cancer awareness on a much larger scale. The journey began as a volunteer to assist my colleague in doing something, however, her cancer re-occurred after a period of remission and metastasized inside the bones, spreading beyond the original site. I had to see her in a very miserable condition, so I decided that rather than doing 20 different things It's better to do one thing and bring some real change. From then onwards I spent all my energy towards this one cause of breast cancer awareness. Many of my close friends discouraged me, that you cannot do something about such a big issue. However, praise be to god that I never gave up and stood resilient in face of great hardship and challenges. Although the first 10 to 15 years were extremely daunting, looking back now we have been able to come a long way. Instead of criticizing our country, all of us including you and me have civic responsibilities to make our country better.
Q. What are the key programs and initiatives that your organization has taken?
[Mr. Omer Aftab]: We have our community outreach programs for raising awareness, with visits to various schools and colleges across Pakistan. We are also involved with the government at the federal and provincial level. Other initiatives include establishing diagnostic centers, one-stop clinics, and reforming legislation. We are constructing Pakistan’s First dedicated Breast Cancer Hospital in Lahore which is almost fully functional and complete services will be provided very soon. With state-of-the-art equipment and machinery, all the treatments regarding breast cancer will be available under one roof. We started a lady health worker program, so the lady health workers can reach out to women in villages, working on breast cancer prevention, detection and awareness on the grass root level. Pink Ribbon is also a partner with the Pakistan telecommunication sector. Pakistan’s leading telecom and ICT services provider, PTCL Group (PTCL & Ufone 4G) in collaboration with Pink Ribbon Pakistan led a month-long campaign. The campaign, multifaceted in its approach, exemplified the Group's commitment to empowering individuals in their fight against breast cancer. The Group kick-started the campaign by converting the official company logos to pink on all digital platforms. This was followed by an internal awareness messaging campaign to educate employees about early detection and breast cancer prevention, accompanied by an awareness session in collaboration with Pink Ribbon. The session featured a panel discussion with Dr. Erum Najeeb, General Surgeon, Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), Dr. Asma Mahfooz from PTCL's Health Team, a breast cancer survivor and a caregiver to a breast cancer patient. A donation drive was carried out through UPaisa, and donation boxes were placed in office buildings to generate funds for Pakistan’s first specialized breast cancer hospital. Ufone Tower and PTCL’s NEST Office were illuminated pink, demonstrating solidarity and community support for breast cancer survivors. Additionally, the president’s house, minar-e-Pakistan, parliament house and mazar-e-Quaid were also illuminated pink called the ‘ Pink Illumination’. We have tried every possible method to raise awareness of breast cancer.
Q. Has the core mission and vision of Pink Ribbon evolved over time?
[Mr. Omer Aftab]: Our main mission has always been to reduce breast cancer mortality in Pakistan, the strategy has changed over the years but the core mission remains the same. There has been a significant increase in young women going for diagnosis of breast cancer and prioritizing their health instead of worrying about the taboo against breast cancer that remains in society. This highlights the importance of our organization's mission and successful efforts.
Q. How do you measure the success of your awareness campaigns?
[Mr. Omer Aftab]: We have been able to take the topic of breast cancer at the National level, it is now being talked about in every forum. In the month of October, breast cancer awareness is observed throughout the country with more people now willingly talking about it. I think the real success would be when the majority of Pakistani women, even above the age of 40 realize the importance of getting themselves checked and all women start practicing self-examination on a monthly basis. On one hand, it is an achievement that we have been able to break the taboo surrounding breast cancer in Pakistan, on the other hand, we still have a long way to go.
About Pakistan’s First Dedicated Breast Cancer Hospital
The 730 Million hospital project was kicked off in 2017. By investing their days and nights, the Pink Ribbon team achieved the first milestone constructing 12,000 sq. ft., the first phase of the project in a record time of almost one year. Now, work on the second phase of the same worth is in full swing. Pink Ribbon Hospital will be a state-of-the-art and one-stop facility for Breast Cancer diagnosis and treatment. They aim to start the Outdoor Patients Department (OPD) soon. From diagnosis to the biopsy and surgical procedures, everything will be available under one roof. Most importantly all the staff including doctors, and other workers are female to create a comfortable environment for the women getting treated.
Conclusion
The initiatives taken by Pink Ribbon cannot be underappreciated, despite facing many challenges they worked dedicatedly towards the cause of raising awareness of breast cancer and providing treatment. With the construction of the Breast Cancer Hospital, tackling breast cancer in Pakistan will become much less difficult. Mr. Omer Aftab’s dedication is a brilliant example for everyone in today’s society, he demonstrated remarkable perseverance and achieved what no one else in Pakistan could. “Instead of criticizing our country, all of us including you and me have civic responsibilities to make our country better”. Their efforts highlight the need for more research on breast cancer and the need to work on improving treatment for other forms of cancer as well.
