MAY IS CANCER AWARENESS MONTH

May 03, 2007

May is Cancer Awareness Month. This year cancer survivors and patients are observing the week with the theme “Live Healthy, Fight Cancer”.Secretary of the Belize Cancer Society Kathy Esquivel says the month has a list of activities.

Kathy Esquivel: Secretary of the Belize Cancer Society

“We start the month with a church service at St. Ignatius Church on Sunday May 6, at 9am; we have the Annual General Meeting coming up on May 11 at YWCA at 7pm everyone is invited. We will have rags, dollar day on the 18 when businesses and schools ask their people to come in regular clothes and pay a dollar for that. We have a social for cancer patients and ten we have the big Annual Cancer Walk from Ladyville to Belize City that is on May 26 that last Saturday in May and we are asking people to sign up for it and get the information on how to get they information how to get their tee shirts how to get the bus and the easiest way is to drop an email to belizecancerwalk@yahoo.com or you can contact the Belize Cancer Society. And the Cancer Walk we raise some money because we have tee shirts and we have some breakfast on sale but most of it is awareness trying to encourage people to live healthy, diet exercise and other things that will keep them healthy. Also early detection so getting their Mammogram, Pap smear, Prostate, Colonoscopy getting their test done and just looking at their bodies, being in touch with their bodies and noticing any changes because early detection is the key. Cancer is very treatable most cancers if it is caught early enough and so that’s what the month is about. It’s about awareness.” 

Esquivel says the monies raised is put right back into helping cancer patients.

Kathy Esquivel: Secretary of the Belize Cancer Society

“Half of it we do assist patients who need to go abroad for Chemo and Radiation to Merida and we do assist as far as we can we have a limited amount of money. And the other half we have a palliative care, that means that we have nurses and doctors who visit those who are terminally ill to make them comfortable. We have pain medication we try to ensure that people’s last days are as comfortable as they can be. The rest of the year we have various fundraising we have a free clinic every Saturday at the Belize Cancer Society, people can just phone in and get an appointment, we do awareness campaigns we are lobbying with Government to see what can be done to get more cancer treatment available in Belize and we go out and give talks to schools, businesses, people that ask us to do so.” 

Kathy Esquivel, Secretary of the Belize Cancer Society.

|

|