World Pink Roadshow in Kuala Lumpur – October 2009
By Dr Evelyn Ho 

Estée Lauder Companies Malaysia Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign World Pink Road Shows were held at Gardens Mall and Suria KLCC over the 9-11th and 16-18th October weekends.

The Gardens Mall roadshow was held in partnership with Sime Darby Medical Centre Subang Jaya and the Suria KLCC roadshow was in partnership with Pantai Hospital Kuala Lumpur.

Free health talks and clinical services (clinical examination of the breasts) were held for the public during the roadshows. At the roadshows was also the World Pink Photo Wall by Sony Cybershot where members of the public could for a minimum donation of RM10, have their photograph taken and one of the 2 copies stuck on the “pink wall” whilst another taken home as a souvenir. Special items to raise funds for the ELC initiative, including the World Pink polo-neck T shirt and enamel pink ribbon, enjoyed brisk sales.

The Breast Cancer Welfare Association was on hand to teach those interested in learning how to do self breast examination at the roadshows.

Public health talk topics were Overview of Breast Cancer (Dr Matin Mellor), Breast Cancer Examination & Screening for Breast Cancer (Dr Yap Moy Juan), Management of Breast Cancer (Dr Matin Mellor), Breast Cancer Reconstructive Surgery (Dr V. Surendranathan), Optimal Therapy for Breast Cancer (Dr Ahmad Kamal), How to do Self Breast Examination (Ms Kwan Yau Oi) and Diet & the Cancer Connection (Ms Sophia Wong), Breast Cancer – What you need to know (Dr Patricia Gomez), Understanding My Breast and Do I need Mammogram? (Dr Evelyn Ho), LIving a Healthy Lifestyle with Breast Cancer (Dr Azlina Firzah Abdul Aziz) and Debunking Breast Cancer Myths (Dr Dalilah Kamaruddin).

The response to the public health talks was excellent with good turnouts even though held in the busy malls. There was constant foot traffic around the stage where the talks were held.

Funds raised would be donated towards fighting breast cancer through awareness and education with the Breast Cancer Welfare Association, providing free mammograms from underprivileged via National Cancer Society of Malaysia and College of Radiology, and to support breast cancer research by Cancer Research Initiatives Foundation.

NCR 2003 Report: Breast Cancer is still the top cancer amongst women

Latest statistics from
the National Cancer Registry (NCR) show
that lung cancer is the most common cancer experienced by men in the country, whilst
breast cancer is the top cancer in women. Lung cancer accounts for 13.8 per cent of cancer cases among men. For women, breast cancer accounts
for 31 per cent of cases.