Jerusalem24 – Every year, October marks Breast Cancer Awareness Month. And every year, the Augusta Victoria Hospital (AVH) in occupied East Jerusalem runs a mobile clinic in the form of a very visible pink truck that tours the occupied West Bank including East Jerusalem, and Gaza.
The aim of Breast Cancer Awareness Month is to promote the mammogram as the most effective weapon in the fight against breast cancer, as early detection of breast cancer can result in a 98% recovery rate.
As the only hospital that provides radiation therapy for cancer patients in occupied Palestine, the AVH runs a mobile clinic all year round, but intensifies its campaign throughout October in collaboration with the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
On Monday night, the AVH in East Jerusalem, the A.M Qattan Foundation in Ramallah, the Palestinian Museum in Birzeit, and the Mariam Foundation (the first Arab foundation dedicated to fighting cancer) in Nazareth, lit up the facades of their buildings in pink, along with several other locations across Palestine – all in an effort to raise awareness among women and normalize the practice of going for a mammogram.
So far this year, the unmistakable pink truck has drawn higher numbers of women than expected.
Jerusalem24 reporter Nadeen Alshaer caught up with the pink truck as it was stationed in Ramallah’s Al-Manara square on Sunday, offering free mammograms for walk-in patients hoping to get an all-clear on their health.
Watch the full report by Nadeen Alshaer and Khalil Drabee in the video below.
It’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month! Have you seen the pink truck driving around?
Watch the full report by Nadeen Alshaer and Khalil Drabee.#breastcancerawareness #BreastCancerAwarenessMonth #earlydetection #earlydetectioncansavelives pic.twitter.com/0T6ynkpC5k— Jerusalem24 (@J24FMPalestine) October 5, 2022
