The National Breast and Bowel Cancer Screening Programme – Screen For Life- led by the Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC) is conducting an awareness campaign across Qatar’s major malls throughout March in line with its campaign ‘Ask Me About Bowel Cancer Screening’ which was launched last week.
PHCC has set up booths at three of the country’s most popular destinations as part of its goal to spread awareness to a wider audience and significantly enhance knowledge about bowel cancer screening among the Qatari population.
Such booths will be located at Ezdan Mall, Landmark Mall and Villaggio Mall, during the month-long campaign which aims to engage with all segments of Qatari society. A specialized team from the Breast and Bowel Cancer Screening Program will be on hand to interact with shoppers and educate them about bowel cancer screening and the program in general.
The primary focus of the campaign will be to target men and women of Qatar aged 50-74, the most-at-risk age group, to advise them on the benefits of screening and urge them to make an appointment. In addition, the highly trained team from PHCC will seek to connect with younger shoppers who can influence their parents and help spread awareness about the ‘Screen For Life’ programme.
With bowel cancer among the top two malignant cancers in Qatar, early detection through screening can help increase survival rates by as much as 90 percent.
“One of the most important aspects of our work is reaching as wide an audience as possible and raising awareness on bowel cancer screening,” Dr Shaikha Abu Shaikha, Cancer Programme Manager, PHCC, said. “By placing the activation booths across Qatar’s leading malls, we will ensure that our message and increased knowledge of the advantages of bowel screening is being passed on to a greater number of people."
