Whenever, anyone talk about breast cancer in Saudi Arabia, Zahra foundation name raise up. In this pink month, we will highlight this outstanding organization and the work they have been doing over the years. Zahra Association is a non-profit organization that takes interest in breast-cancer patients, raises the awareness of the disease, supports those who have breast-cancer and those who recovered and helps health sectors to prevent breast-cancer from spreading. It is located in Riyadh and those who benefited from its programs have reached more than 3055.

Establishment:

     It was founded in 2007 headed by Haifa Alfaisal Al-Saud with a concept from Dr. Suad bint Muhammad bin Aamer. It started with making workshops and awareness forums in many universities, schools and women institutions in Riyadh. Then the awareness activity expanded and developed by forming The National Program Committee for Breast-Cancer Awareness in King Faisal Specialist Hospital headed by Dr. Suad bint Muhammad bin Aamer, Director of Breast-Cancer Researches Department in King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Researches Center in Riyadh. The committee includes a group of specialists in different fields from many hospitals in Riyadh. Then at the end, Zahra Association for breast-cancer has been established and it is considered the first charity specialized association that fights breast-cancer in KSA.

Goals:

     The Association’s goals are: to implement awareness programs of breast-cancer, to activate survey in Saudi Arabia, to offer specialized services for the patients and the recovered, to support the specialized scientific studies of breast-cancer and to finally activate the training programs to improve the Saudi competencies in breast-cancer field.

Efforts:

     Zahra Association for Breast-Cancer plays an enormous role in fighting and treating this illness which is considered one of the most spreading illnesses among women in the whole world. The Association takes responsibility of guiding Saudi women to the right way to recognize the best ways of prevention and to face breast-cancer in addition to launching many campaigns that encourage women to do regular inspection through Mammogram annually; because that helps in early diagnosis of this illness and it is available for everyone.

Memberships:

     Zahra Association has got memberships of some International organizations that are concerned with this illness, they are:

UICC, The Gulf Federation for Cancer Control and The Confederation of Non-Governmental Organization to fight cancer in Middle East countries.

Campaigns and Programs:

       The Association does a lot of awareness campaigns. The last one was held in October of 2021; which is an awareness national campaign that tends to spread awareness of the importance of early discovery of breast-cancer entitled “Where I Was, Where I Got”, and it was organized officially with the cooperation of Ministry of Health, Zahra Association and Sanad.

    Zahra Association for Breast-Cancer ensures to launch more awareness initiatives and campaigns to spread its advices and encourages women to be in a healthy diet that decreases the risk of getting breast cancer, to do some sport, to control the weight and not to smoke.

     The Association also ensures to make deals and partnerships with universities and research centers inside and out of Saudi Arabia; to provide all the scientific, human and social capabilities to support the studies and researches in breast-cancer field, and to provide psychological support for cancer patients in every part of the Kingdom, in addition to giving information about cancer and psychological health.

     The association offers several social programs to provide necessary support for Saudi ladies who have breast-cancer. One of these programs is “You Are Beautiful” program that aims to support the psychology of the woman who has breast-cancer by teaching her how to take care of her skin and use beauty products during treatment. The Association also provides “Zahra Ambassadors” program that includes a group of volunteers and recovered who are qualified to visit the patients and offer psychological support for them in chemical therapy rooms and after surgery.