Westmead Breast Cancer Institute hosts its third annual Mini-Field of Women event on Tuesday (October 3).
The display of 100 pink lady silhouettes and one blue man silhouette was placed in the garden courtyard near the Crown Princess Mary Cancer Centre.
Symbolising the women and men affected by breast cancer each year in Australia, it gave past patients, nurses and family and friends of those suffering breast cancer, an opportunity to pay tribute to the many women and small amount of men affected by the disease each year.
Breast Cancer Institute director Associate Professor Nirmala Pathmanathan, said with breast cancer diagnosis so high, family support and the support of the institute is a high priority.
“Breast cancer is such a common disease,” she said. “The work we do here is so crucially important. Just as every cancer is unique under the microscope when I look at it, every woman is unique and we need to make sure we have treatment plans suitable for all kinds of people.”
In the last week, 17 women have been diagnosed with breast cancer at Westmead Hospital alone.
“Breast cancer doesn’t discriminate,” Dr Pathamanathan said. “The women [recently diagnosed] were of all ages – one woman was in her 20’s and pregnant, another 40, two in their 50’s and so on.”
The Westmead display is a local version of the Breast Cancer Network Australia’s annual Field of Women event and was held as part of the institute’s monthly support group Best Breast Friends.
Associate Professor Pathamanathan spoke of the importance of women over the age of 50 having mammograms every two years.
“You can all do us a favour here [at the Breast Cancer Institute] and make sure the women around you are having their screenings every two years,” she said. “Here in western Sydney, one out of two women don’t have their breasts screened.”
Statistics show as the population ages, the number of people being diagnosed with breast cancer is increasing, while the number of deaths from breast cancer is decreasing. BreastScreen NSW provides free breast screening to women between 50 and 74.
The display of 100 pink lady silhouettes and one blue man silhouette was placed in the garden courtyard near the Crown Princess Mary Cancer Centre.
Symbolising the women and men affected by breast cancer each year in Australia, it gave past patients, nurses and family and friends of those suffering breast cancer, an opportunity to pay tribute to the many women and small amount of men affected by the disease each year.
Breast Cancer Institute director Dr Nirmala Pathmanathan, said with breast cancer diagnosis so high, family support and the support of the institute is a high priority.
This article was originally published in the Parramatta Sun 2 October 2017.