Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL), the country’s leading ICT services provider, in collaboration with Pink Ribbon Pakistan held Breast Cancer awareness session at PTCL Head office in Islamabad today. A large number of female staff members, along with the female family members of the male staff were provided with key information on how to tackle this challenge, various risk factors and prevention measures for early diagnosis of breast cancer to reduce the mortality rate and provide support to breast cancer patients.
This initiative, which was organized by the Pink Club of PTCL, highlighted the fact that one of the major concerns regarding the disease is the lack of information, which ultimately leads to failure in early diagnosis. The Pink Club of PTCL has been created for the sole purpose of improving health and well-being of all the women working at the company.
Showing its solidarity to the cause, PTCL Head office was illuminated in pink colour and all the PTCL staff members wore pink ribbon. Similar sessions to raise awareness about breast cancer were held by the female medical staff at the Regional Offices of PTCL, while awareness campaign through social media was also launched for all the members of Pink Club during the month as October is globally marked as Breast Cancer Awareness Month –PINKtober.
Speaking on the occasion, Syed Mazhar Hussain, Chief Human Resource Officer, PTCL said, “We are glad to be part of such campaigns as we believe that raising awareness about health issues is the first step towards developing a healthy society. We greatly value the contribution of our female employees and are committed to their health and well- being. We acknowledge the positive role played by women and as a socially responsible organization urge them to spread awareness about breast cancer in their families and social circle.”
Representing Pink Ribbon on the occasion, Chief Executive, Pink Ribbon, Omer Aftab said, “A growing number of women in Pakistan are at the risk of breast cancer owing to lack of information. There are about 1.20 million women in Pakistan who have a high risk of having breast cancer in their lifetime, and almost 40,000 women die each year, yet there is lack of medical facilities for this disease.” He told that to cater the need of medical services for breast cancer, Pink Ribbon is building Pakistan’s first dedicated Breast Cancer Hospital, and the campaign needs ever more support to build this facility to ensure that none of us will have to bear the horror of losing a mother, a sister, a wife or a daughter. He further added that “We appreciate PTCL’s support for the cause. Such initiatives are sure to spread an effective message out to everyone.’’
Pink Ribbon Pakistan is the only nationwide campaign that has been working for the past several years to raise public awareness about the causes of breast cancer, promoting the significance of early detection for better treatment and survival. PTCL encourages positive development of the society and this motivation is deeply ingrained in its culture and tends to be the governing force behind this initiative.
