CELEBRATING 'PINK OCTOBER' ALOLA - HALIKU-KNKSTL-DMC RAISE AWARENESS OF BREAST CANCER PREVENTION.

(Alolamedia – HALIKU) Cancer is still a major problem for all countries, including Timor-Leste. This disease is very dangerous because it can attack everyone regardless of gender, age, level of education, including social status. Nearly 8.2 million of the world’s population lose their lives every year due to this cancer and of that total, 4 million of them die between the ages of 30 and 69.
 
In Timor-Leste, based on retrospective data for 5 years (2028-2022), the Guido Valadares National Hospital has registered 1008 cancer patients and of this number, breast cancer sufferers are in first place.
 
“This number does not include patients treated by reference hospitals, private clinics and traditional healing centers in Timor-Leste… and according to data recorded at the Guido Valadares National Hospital, as many as 5 men are registered as breast cancer patients,” said Dr. Alito Soares, a General Surgeon at Guido Valadares National Hospital.
 
Even though it is dangerous, cancer can be prevented through healthy living and avoiding factors that contribute to the disease itself. Practical methods related to early detection and consumption of nutritious and balanced foods are also good ways to avoid cancer.
 
The Executive Director of the Alola Foundation, Mrs. Maria Guterres, when giving a speech at the ‘Pink October’ celebration with staff from Timor Port in Liquica last week, explained that prevention is a better way than cure, therefore the community education activities carried out by HALIKU are very important.
 
“We continue to carry out the same activities in order to raise public awareness so that everyone knows how to prevent cancer because as we know, 30 percent of breast cancer can be prevented If everyone is aware, with this they can prevent it themselves,” explained the Executive Director of the Alola Foundation.
To increase public awareness of the dangers of breast cancer, in October, the Alola Foundation through the HALIKU sub-program (I choose to cure) dedicated its activities to an awareness raising campaign in collaboration with the National Breast Cancer Commission in Timor-Leste (KNSTL) and the Dili Medical Center (DMC) clinic. This initiative is part of the ‘Pink October’ celebrations.
 
“I hope that the information shared by HALIKU will not only be useful for ourselves but also for our colleagues in making decisions because if we are late in making decisions it will have a bad impact on our health, people say early detection will save lives and we should not embarrassed if we find abnormal signs and things in our bodies, especially those related to breast cancer, immediately go to a health facility,” said Director Maria Guterres.
 
With the theme “Together I Prevent Breast Cancer”, HALIKU, KNKSTL and DMC celebrated the month of ‘Pink October’ together with various communities both in the capital Dili and with communities in the municipality. The celebration activities with the sisters who are members of the FMA congregation – in Comoro-Dili opened a series of activities that had been scheduled. From Dili, the team then continued their ‘Pink October’ celebration activities to Baucau Municipality and held information outreach in the Baucau Vila Antiga community which was facilitated by the Santo Antonio-Baucau Parish. On Friday 18 October, the team had the opportunity to share information about breast cancer at the ‘Pink October’ celebration organized by Timor Port and ANZ Timor-Leste.
 
“We are very proud of the initiative from both the Timor Port team or ANZ Timor-Leste because this initiative shows that the private sector in Timor-Leste is starting to take responsibility for preventing breast cancer, this strengthens the work of HALIKU-Alola which has been providing education to the public about the dangers of breast cancer,” said the Executive Director of Alola.
 

At the Timor Port – Liquica office, after hearing an introduction from the Director of Alola, the ‘Pink October’ celebration continued with a presentation session about breast cancer by Doctor Raimundo dos Santos, as general surgeon at the Guido Valadares National Hospital. In his presentation, Doctor Raimundo gave a comprehensive explanation about breast cancer, the process of its formation and spread, early prevention methods, treatment, prevention methods and the importance of regular control with routine examinations.

 

As a cancer that is commonly found in women, breast cancer is defined as the uncontrolled development of breast cells including their size and quantity which arise as a result of genetic changes. General Surgeon at Dili’s National Hospital revealed that everyone, including men, is at risk of breast cancer and women have the highest risk of 99%.

 

“The risk factors for men developing breast cancer are old age, conditions related to the balance between estrogen and androgen, as well as other factors such as infertility, obesity and so on,” said Doctor Raimundo dos Santos, Surgeon at Dili’s National Hospital.

 

After the presentation session, one of the breast cancer survivors, Sister Angelita Gomes FMA, gave her testimony about her experience of struggling with breast cancer to be able to live a normal life.

 

In this activity, the General Manager of Timor Port, Mr. Laurent Palayer, expressed deep appreciation to the HALIKU team, KNKS-TL for being able together with the Timor Port community to celebrate ‘Pink October’ in Timor Bay-Liquica. As the first private institution in Timor-Leste, Timor-Port’s role is very important, not only as a door for import-export activities but also as a bridge for commercial activity between Timor-Leste and other friendly countries, especially China, Australia and Asia-Pacific. Through this ‘Pink October’ celebration, Timor Port once again expressed its commitment to various initiatives that encourage the community to play an active role in fighting breast cancer and encourage actions that campaign for breast cancer prevention.

 

“As the Port of Timor Community, together, let’s support the fight against breast cancer to bring positive change,” said General Manager of the Port of Timor, Mr. Laurent Palayer.

 

On the same day, the HALIKU team also took the time to share the joy of ‘Pink October’ with the ANZ Timor-Leste community. On this occasion, HALIKU not only shared information about the dangers of breast cancer but also presented the main activities that had been carried out to support women suffering from cancer.

 

In a friendly environment, the ANZ Timor-Leste family listens and discusses cancer in women and how to prevent it. facilitated by Mrs. Maria Guterres, Executive Director of Alola.

 

With staff dedicated to assisting local and international business clients, ANZ Timor-Leste has been an investment-led commercial bank since 2001 providing services and expertise in international transactions, trade and e-banking services to the Timorese community.

 

Since it was founded in March 2014, HALIKU as an education and support program for women suffering from cancer in Timor-Leste has been committed to increasing women’s knowledge about prevention, early detection and various information about treatment. Apart from this, HALIKU also provides material and spiritual support to women suffering from cancer.

 

HALIKU is a member of the Timor-Leste National Breast Cancer Commission and also a member of the South East Asia Breast Cancer and International Union for Cancer Control.

 

“We have established good collaboration with the Timor-Leste National Breast Cancer Commission team based at the National Hospital to facilitate examinations for the cancer patients we refer, cutting through the long-term bureaucratic system that sometimes causes patients to lose their enthusiasm,” said Mrs. Maria Guterres, Director Alola Foundation Executive.

 

Since last year, HALIKU-Alola began collaborating with DMC to support histopathology and mammography diagnostic examinations for underprivileged patients. The Executive Director of the Alola Foundation also informed that starting this October, Alola has started construction of a Women’s Cancer Care Center located at the Alola Main Office, Mascarinhas, Dili.

 

“Patients who come from remote areas and have no relatives in Dili during the treatment process can stay at this center with the help of nurses,” said Mrs. Maria Guterres.

 

In 2014-2023, HALIKU has referred more than 225 patients to the Guido Valadares National Hospital.

 

 

READ MORE

%d