BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH - CROWN PRINCESS KATHERINE’S APPEAL

On the occasion of the Breast Cancer Awareness Month, HRH Crown Princess Katherine wishes to once again point out the importance of preventive examinations for the preservation of women’s health and appeals to all the ladies to be responsible for their health and their lives. 

To intensify these appeals, Crown Princess Katherine Foundation in cooperation with Clinical Centre Nis and L’Oréal Balkan, supported the mammography screenings for women in Vranje. The examinations in Vranje were performed on a digital mobile mammography unit, which was donated by the HRH Crown Princess Katherine Foundation to the Clinical Center Nis, thanks to the generosity of Stavros Niarchos Foundation. Until this day, as part of this activity, more than 560 women have been examined in Vranje, and the testing will be continued in the following days.

According to the Clinical Center Nis, over 149,000 examinations have been performed on digital mammography unit so far. This unit was recently repaired, with generous support from the donors of Lifeline Humanitarian Organization, whose patron is HRH Crown Princess Katherine, and its offices in New York, London, Toronto and Chicago. 

Thanks to the generosity of L’Oréal Balkan, ladies who came for the examination from Friday 8 October to Tuesday 12 October in front of the Sports Hall in Vranje received a gift package of L’Oréal products. 

Recalling the importance of prevention, HRH Crown Princess Katherine invited all women from Vranje and the surrounding area to come for free check-ups. 

“Bearing in mind the fact that breast cancer is the most common malignant tumor in the female population in the world, we need to turn our attention to this deadly disease, not only during October, but throughout the year.  

Now more than ever, we need partners from Serbia and abroad who are willing to join our efforts in ensuring that every woman has access to education, screening, treatment, support, and hope. Dear ladies, please come for a preventive examination, save yourself and your health, for the sake of yourselves and your family, the people who love you dearly”, HRH Crown Princess said. 

Since its establishment in 2001, the HRH Crown Princess Katherine Foundation has been actively involved in raising awareness of the importance of preventing, treating, and fighting breast cancer, as well as providing medical equipment to identify and treat the disease on time. Five oncology symposiums, dedicated to screening and treatment of breast cancer and other most frequent cancers, were organized in Belgrade in collaboration with professor Hedvig Hricak and her team from the MSKCC, NY. 

In addition to the donation of the digital mobile mammography unit to the Clinical Center Nis, the HRH Crown Princess Katherine Foundation, along with the great support of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, also helped with a donation of a workstation for digital mammography. Also, new medical equipment and reagents used for genetic testing of hereditary predisposition for breast and ovarian cancer were donated to the Institute of Oncology and Radiology of Serbia. Under the auspices of HRH Crown Princess Katherine, the "Race for Cure" was organized in Belgrade in 2019, to raise the awareness of women and the entire society in the fight against breast cancer, as well as not to forget women who lost the battle with this disease mainly due to late detection. 

L’Oréal Balkan has made a very significant contribution, providing on this occasion the cosmetic products as surprise gifts for all ladies who come for the examination.

“Our company, a world leader in cosmetics, has been supporting and encouraging women around the world for decades. We are glad that we have the opportunity to continue on this path and through this cooperation contribute to spreading awareness of the importance of prevention in preserving women’s health in Serbia”, said Ana Panajotovic, L'Oréal's General Manager for the Adria-Balkan region. 

The Foundation and L’Oréal Balkan also give their support to the Institute for Public Health “Batut“, which provided a mobile mammography unit for examinations in Belgrade and Negotin.