The Papua New Guinea Cancer Foundation (PNGCF) announced the return of the annual Pink Ribbon Brunch today, a month before the Pink Ribbon Brunch.
Dadi Toka Jr CEO, for PNGCF, was proud to announce that this year’s brunch will be sponsored by National Finance Ltd.
The funds raised from this event will go towards educating the people of Papua New Guinea on how to protect their families’ from cancer; provide free cancer screening and workshops at various locations around the country.
The National Sales Manager for National Finance Ltd, John Dickinson, said that National Finance is happy to sponsor such programs.
“I am living proof that early detection does save lives,” said Dickinson.
Nine years ago Dickinson was diagnosed with bowl cancer and he believed that because the cancer was detected at its early stage, he is now alive. Dickinson believes that because of programs like this, he was able to detect the cancer at an early stage.
Dadi Toka Jr, mentioned that most Papua New Guineans are hesitant to spend money on their health.
“People do not spend money on getting regular checks, they will only spend money when they actually fall sick and need medical attention,” said Toka Jr.
This is why the PNGCF and National Finance Ltd are partnering, so that they can help educate Papua New Guineans on this issue.
Current statistics indicate that in PNG, 2 women are dying every day from cervical cancer, and 9% of Hospital admissions in Port Moresby are a result of patients diagnosed with breast cancer.
The PNG Institute of Medical Research suggests that cancer is the leading cause of deaths in PNG.
PNGCF conducted cancer awareness and free screening in Lae, Morobe Province this year. Out of the 554 participants, 55% of them did not know about the disease before the workshop.
PNGCF has seen positive results in other parts of the country as well.
Awareness, prevention or early detection does save lives.
This year’s Pink Ribbon Brunch will be held at the Laguna Hotel on October 28, and PNGCF and National Finance Ltd are happy to say that some tables have already been sold. They are keen for other companies to come on board and buy the remaining tables.
