THE 20TH City Council passed an ordinance under suspended rules on Sept. 12 giving support to the observance of Pink October or Breast Cancer Awareness celebration in October of every year.
Pilar Braga, city councilor and education committee chair, and the resolution’s author, called on the council to declare every October of every year as Breast Cancer Awareness Month by enjoining legislative and executive branches of the local government, especially the City Health Office, Integrated Gender and Development Division, Barangay Councils for Women, and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) to lead the celebration.
The council will actively participate in the Pink Walk, which will be followed by the Pink October launch on Oct. 2 during the City Hall flag-raising ceremony and the Health Fair and Health Forum on Oct. 6 at the SM Annex, Ecoland.
The resolution commended the Rotary Club of Downtown Davao (RCDD) and the Rotary International District 3860 Governor Rozanne C. Gamboa for the mobilization of support and leading the celebration in the city for several years.
In the resolution, Braga highlighted the alarming growth of breast cancer cases in the country resulting in the country having the highest rate of cases in Asia.
She recognized the need to increase breast cancer awareness and promote affordable preventive screening accessibility to women and men, stressing that even though women are more susceptible, once percent of the cases appear in men.
Breast Cancer Awareness Month has been celebrated globally since 1985 dubbed as “Pink October”, adopting the color pink as displaying a pink ribbon to raise awareness about breast health, and raise funds for the cause.
