AS recently announced by President Barack Obama, October is National Breast Cancer Awareness month in the United States. However, Breast Cancer Month has also become an international event; around the world women and men are honoring and supporting the courage and perseverance of our sisters, mothers, relatives, friends and colleagues who have battled or continue to battle this disease. This terrible disease has claimed victims in Kuwait, in the United States, and within my family and among my friends.

Yet, there is hope. Over the past
decade, important strides have been taken toward effectively treating this disease. However, breast cancer remains the most common cancer among women, accounting for just over one million new cases annually. Breast cancer, the most common cause of cancer mortality, accounts for 16 percentage of cancer deaths in women. According to the World Health Organization, screening by mammography can reduce mortality from breast cancer by up to one-third among women aged 50-69 years. Learning about prevention, detection and treatment options empowers us to face breast cancer head-on.

We must stay on top of this disease, and continue to raise awareness among those closest and dearest to us. During my time as US Ambassador to Kuwait, I have had the opportunity to attend several workshops and events sponsored by local organizations established by Kuwaiti women to do just that – to increase awareness. The establishment of such organizations reflects Kuwait’s continued commitment to detecting and to effectively fighting this disease. Early detection means empowerment, and allows women to take charge of their health and of their treatment options.

It has been at these workshops that I have had the honor and privilege to meet extraordinary women who are breast cancer survivors and women and their families, husbands and children, who are living with and battling this disease. Thank you for your courage and your strength and your grace to come forward and share your stories with us all. Because you inspire each of us to take pause this October, acknowledge the progress that has been made, and resolve to continue to raise awareness. Because at the end of the day, this is not a “women’s issue,” this is a public health issue with much broader implications for the overall well-being and strength of our societies.

By Deborah K. Jones
US Ambassador to Kuwait