Sport

In the pink of health

Novemver 4 -10, 2020
756 views
Gulf Weekly In the pink of health

Gulf Weekly Mai Al Khatib-Camille
By Mai Al Khatib-Camille

Healthy exercise and sporting endeavours across the island went ‘virtual’ for a good cause as the island remains in a cautionary grip caused by the Covid-19 crisis.

The Bahrain Cancer Society (BCS) ended the breast cancer awareness month on a high note, having raised thousands of dinars to help fund a state-of-the-art Autostainer medical device to be donated to Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC).

The society, which was established in 1991 and is located in Adliya, staged a ‘Virtual Pinkathon’ over the weekend in which people ran, walked or cycled in pink across the island.

“For the last 20 years, we have been organising walkathons during the month of October to raise awareness about breast cancer,” explained Ahmed Ali Al Nowakhda, the treasurer for BCS and head of the organising committee for awareness programmes and campaigns.

“However, due to the pandemic, we obviously could not have gatherings. To adhere to the guidelines of the National Taskforce for Combating Covid-19, a group of BCS volunteers came up with the idea to organise a virtual walkathon and agreed to call it a Pinkathon.

“It was the first time we ever staged a virtual event such as this and I believe it went perfectly well. We left it open for people to complete whatever distance they wanted at any location of their choosing.”

More than a hundred individuals registered for the two-day event and took to social media walking, cycling and running in support of their cause. Registration was priced at BD3 and Pinkathon 2020 shirts were available from the society for BD2.

“People were asked to cycle, run or walk to highlight the importance of screenings and to encourage people to conduct self-examinations,” added Al Nowakhda who completed a 3km walk for the cause.

“You don’t have to wait until October to get screened or checked. You should be checking yourself every month and the purpose of early detection is to get it in the early stage in order to help manage it better.”

The Cyclone Cycling Club kicked off the activities early on Friday morning with around 30 cyclists biking from Dohat Arad and back, for 110km, while being escorted by traffic police and accompanied by a Royal Bahrain Hospital ambulance.

Michelle Rainer, a 37-year-old aviation consultant and founder of the Ladies of Bahrain group on Instagram @ladiesofbahrain, walked around her neighbourhood in Amwaj Islands for an hour.

She said: “I joined the Pinkathon because I wanted to help support the cause and help raise funds for BCS’s high-tech cancer screening machine. Cancer rates have increased worldwide and that is scary. I definitely think there should be more fundraising events like this.”

The BCS raised around BD13,000 for the device that costs around BD40,000.

According to Al Nowakhda, the Autostainer will provide clear well-defined stains that pathologists need to help make diagnostic decisions.

The BCS have donated several medical devices and equipment’s over the years such as the Neuro Navigator in 2018, the MultiPulse HoPLUS high power holmium laser device in 2019 and the Mortech Elevating Pathology Grossing Station in 2020.

The Neuro Navigator, which cost BD200,000, assists SMC in the diagnosis and treatment of brain tumors and central nervous system conditions for all age groups. The MultiPulse HoPLUS, which cost around BD130,000, is ideal for both surgical treatment of prostate hyperplasia (BPH) and endoscopic treatments of lithotripsy.

The Grossing Station, which cost around BD14,000, enables pathologists to inspect surgical specimens with the naked eye, allowing them to obtain initial, diagnostic information before samples are sent for further microscopic examination.

The BCS increased the capacity of beds in the Paediatric Oncology Unit in 2020 at SMC by adding two more rooms to cope with the increased number of patients. The number of total beds for inpatients is now 10 instead of 6.

Aside from raising funds for equipment, the society also supports cancer patients that are in need of financial aid, in particular expatriates that struggle in covering medical costs.

 According to Al Nowakhda, they support them partially and lend out wheel chairs, beds, wigs and whatever they need to help with their healing and treatment process.

They also have volunteers that provide empathetic ears and shoulders to lean on when struggling emotionally.

They provide pamphlets and booklets about different cancers in English and Arabic, for free to schools, universities, corporations, banks and anyone who requests it.

Now the society aims to stage virtual lectures for the month of Movember. This is an annual movement held around the world involving the growing of moustaches during the month of November to raise awareness about men’s health issues, such as prostate cancer, testicular cancer and men’s suicide.

For details on future events, follow @bahraincancer on Instagram.







More on Sport