Due to its social responsibility and in line with its vision to support Palestinian women, Bank of Palestine, within its “Felestineya” program implemented by the Bank to support Palestinian women, launched a grand campaign for early detection of breast cancer through the annual global campaign to fight this disease and reduce its complications among women under the title “Because we care about you, and your life is valuable to us: October campaign for early detection of breast cancer”.
The activities were launched with a large march through Ramallah streets, with participation of a number of official and governmental institutions, civil society, and the private sector, in addition to dozens of women, volunteers, and activists, expressing their support for the campaign which will have positive implications for women in Palestine.
The campaign’s activities, for the fourth consecutive year, takes place in the West Bank and Gaza Strip simultaneously, throughout the month of October, in partnership with Dunya Women’s Cancer Center, subsidiary of Health Work Committees in the cities of the West Bank; the campaign was launched in Gaza Strip in partnership with Aid and Hope Program for Cancer Patient Care Association; this campaign represents an annual event organized under the sponsorship of Bank of Palestine and in cooperation with Ramallah and Al-Bireh Governorate, and Ramallah Municipality, and with media sponsorship from Raya Radio Network, Ma’an News agency, and Nissa FM Radio. As the campaign includes the use of a range of media and advertising channels and social networking sites to encourage women to conduct screening for early detection of breast cancer.
Within the context of the campaign, the Bank will donate screening tests for cases in need. The Bank will also hold awareness events and activities for its female employees for early dedication of this disease, in which 98% of the cases can be recovered if detected at early stages. The Bank will also donate one dollar for any purchasing transaction through the Bank’s credit and debit cards.
Dr. Nofouth Maslamani, the Medical Doctor at Dunya’a Center, praised the Bank’s efforts towards the success of this campaign, to become an essential part of the global campaign for early detection of this disease. Maslamani added that this year, the Bank initiated to develop various promotional tools in order to reach the largest number of Palestinian women, in order to raise their awareness about the implications of this disease and the importance of early screening; she added that this campaign was launched this year for the third consecutive year with continuous partnership with Bank of Palestine, which coincides with the international events of the month for early detection of breast cancer.
Maslamani added that pink signs and posters were distributed in the streets and public sites, in addition to conducting a series of promotional events through various media channels; moreover, multiple lectures and awareness sessions will be conducted during this month in all clinics and centers of the Health Work Committees, in collaboration with Women Health Program in the northern, central and southern West Bank, as well as women and general institutions, universities, institutes, and schools. She indicated that Dunya Center continues to intensify the events during this campaign aiming for early detection of breast cancer.
Maslamani added that the events that will be held by Dunya Women’s Cancer Center will include awareness workshops in all governorates of Palestine, in collaboration with a range of national intuitions including Ramallah and Al-Bireh Governorate, and Ramallah Municipality, and with media sponsorship from Raya Radio Network, Ma’an News agency and Nissa FM Radio. She expressed her pride and contentment about the collaboration with this institutions, which proves the sense of belonging and dedication towards Palestinian women.
Bank of Palestine confirmed that this campaign emphasizes its interest and support for Palestinian women who represent half the society, as the Bank dedicated a primary part of its program to support Palestinian women. The Bank presented a group of activities it implements to support Palestinian women, as the Bank held various programs within its social responsibility program including the sponsorship of female annual league and the launch of a program to economically empower women, in addition to implementing activities of financial awareness for women in marginalized areas, and its efforts to employ women within its cadre, as the female employees used to represent 17% of its cadre five years ago, to increase to 26% in the past year.
Mrs. Eman Shanan, Director of Aid and Hope Program for Cancer Patient Care Association, thanked and expressed her gratitude for the Bank for its continuous partnership and for working together for the fourth consecutive year within the awareness campaigns and early screening; she added that the efforts this year will focus on the importance of early screening tests for their contribution in the recovery of this disease with a rate of 95%; awareness sessions will be conducted in all governorates of Gaza Strip to encourage women to conduct early screening tests.
Bank of Palestine dedicates 5% of its annual net profits for social responsibility in all its sectors, including health, education, culture, sports, and various aid programs.