Despite state-of-the-art medical facilities and a 100% government funded global healthcare program, Saudi Arabia has one of the highest rates of morbidity in breast cancer in the world.
Experts site a general lack of awareness about the disease as well as limitations placed on women in the Saudi culture as culprits.
HRH Princess Reema Bint Bandar Al Saud wants to help fix this issue with 10KSA, a pioneering initiative focused on raising awareness for health issues in Saudi Arabia.
This year, the main focus of 10KSA is breast cancer awareness.
As founding member of the Zahra Breast Cancer Association, the Princess is arranging for 10,000 people to gather at Princess Nourah University in Riyadh and form the world’s largest Human Awareness Ribbon. The event aims to break the world record for the largest ribbon which is held by India for HIV/AIDS awareness.
HRH Princess Reema is hoping the event will help shed light on the country’s lack of women’s health knowledge. According to the Ministry of Health in Saudi Arabia, nearly half of Saudi women are physically inactive and nearly 34% of all Saudi women are considered obese. Clearly, Saudi Arabia is in the throes of a health epidemic and HRH Princess Reema is thankfully taking aggressive action. Elan spoke with her about the event and cause.
Elan: Why did you focus your attention on breast cancer?
HRH Princess Reema: Breast cancer is the number one cancer-affecting women in KSA. Unfortunately, many women are not body aware and lack knowledge about how to detect and seek treatment. Since cancer feeds into other aspects of health, my team and I decided the best way to approach the issue was by promoting holistic health and addressing the precursors to cancer: nutrition, fitness, making early screening and detection talking points. We need to encourage women to get regular checkups and realize that when caught early, there are treatment options.
Elan: What is 10KSA doing to encourage women to find the support they need for early detection?
HRH Princess Reema: We promote and share information and collaborate with stakeholders at the local and national levels to get the messaging out to the women. We made sure to enlist our incredible breast cancer survivors who also act as our 10KSA Ambassadors to discuss their experiences and show there is hope after cancer. We have implemented this through special media coverage, local events and fundraisers and engaging with Zahra Breast Cancer Association’s programming. We keep addressing that health is the foundation and one needs to be healthy to be present for their family.
Elan: Your campaign has been very social media savvy. What did you do differently that has made such a great impact digitally?
HRH Princess Reema: To be honest, it has been a little of trial and error and aesthetically doing something different than other accounts in the region. Our Wings of Hope have become very popular and have traveled globally making the wings and 10KSA synonymous for the initiative. In addition, we have put a spotlight on other incredible women led businesses and groups in the region. We need to promote and uplift one another. There is a lot of emerging talent in KSA.
Elan: What is the significance of inviting people to participate in the pink ribbon formation? What other events are there that day?
HRH Princess Reema: The 10KSA event is meant to introduce women to holistic health by providing them a one-stop shop of information, influencers in the field, nutrition, fitness and other wellness aspects to encourage them to healthy lifestyle patterns. Calling out ladies to come to the ribbon formation is our fun way of gathering 10,000 women for a historic moment to stand together in the name of fighting breast cancer, while immersing them with health and wellness in a manner that is palatable and engaging for them. We are communicating with the ladies in a manner that resonates with them.
Elan: December 12th is also election day in Saudi. For the first time, women can not only vote but participate in the local Saudi elections. How is your event supporting the women running in elections?
HRH Princess Reema: We are encouraging women to attend our event after they vote. We negotiated a special transportation option with Uber who is providing free transportation to and from the voting polls and to our event. It’s an exciting day for women!
Help raise awareness of Women’s Health and The Breast Cancer by sharing this article on Facebook and Twitter.
For more information on the event, visit: www.10KSA.com
Find 10KSA on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube: @join10KSA
Comments
Facebook
Twitter
Contact
Elan.tv
Comments