Raghad (fourth right) seen on stage after launching the breast cancer awareness month for the Pink Ribbon Support Group. Also seen are Sharifah Hasidah (fifth right), Suriani (third right) and other Pink Ribbon Support Group committee members.
 
KUCHING: A centre for breast cancer survivors will be built soon, according to Assistant Minister of Law, State-Federal Relations and Project Monitoring Sharifah Hasidah Sayeed Aman Ghazali.

The centre will be a place for breast cancer survivors to hold activities together, she said, adding that the centre will also be used by the breast cancer support group known as Pink Ribbon Support Group for its activities.

“We want a centre for all breast cancer survivors to get together and get actively involved in support groups. At the moment, there is no proper centre for them to get together and we hope they will have a place of their own very soon,” she said at a charity dinner at a hotel here on Sunday organised by the Pink Ribbon Support Group.

Sharifah Hasidah, however, did not reveal where exactly the centre would be built but she expected to see the centre completed as early as next year.

During the dinner, she also revealed that she was worried that the age of breast cancer patients was getting lower and ever since 2001, the number of breast cancer cases increased by an average of 300 every year until 2011.

Thus she hoped that the Pink Ribbon Support Group would get all the support it needed to help patients of the disease.

Currently, Pink Ribbon Support Group has around RM229,480 in its coffers and is in need of more donations to help it carry out its activities.

Among the group’s main activities are raising awareness of breast cancer, conducting visits to breast cancer patients, and manufacturing artificial breasts and special bras for former patients.

During the dinner, Pink Ribbon Support Group president Suriani Rapaiee informed that that the organisation was in need of support for its activities.

“Being a platform for the survivors to do something good, to inspire and to serve other survivors, we need all the support that we can get. We also hope that our organisation will be recognised by the state government as an essential organisation in enhancing wellbeing and health of women in Sarawak,” said Suriani.

Members of Pink Ribbon Support Group consist of breast cancer patients, former breast cancer patients, nurses, doctors, physiotherapist and paramedics.

It was registered with the Registrar of Societies on Oct 12, 2012.

The dinner was to mark the first day of breast cancer awareness month.

Present as guest of honour was the wife of Yang Di-Pertua Negeri Toh Puan Datuk Patinggi Raghad Kurdi Taib.