BJ Ball and PrintNZ join to battle breast cancer

PrintNZ and BJ Ball have hosted successful fund raising events, to battle breast cancer, in Christchurch and Auckland this month.

About 150 print industry members attended the Pink Ribbon Breakfasts, hearing from speakers Mhairi Flett in Christchurch and Belinda Scott in Auckland.

Ruth Cobb, general manager of PrintNZ, says, “Breast cancer affects one in eight women. It’s great to hear the facts. There are also positive stories and it is valuable to share these.”

Mhairi Flett highlighted the importance of breast health awareness and education. She feature the story of Helena McAlpine, who is dying from secondary breast cancer and has partnered with NZBCF to create ‘For Our Women’, a video message “to all kiwi women to remind them that they are precious & irreplaceable & to make sure each one has the information needed to stay healthy.” Click here to see it 

Full-time surgeon Belinda Scott detailed the facts about breast cancer and outlined steps we can take to mitigate its effects. She said, “People ask, ‘why is it important to find it early?’ If we can find it early, we can treat it better. In 70 per cent of cases of early detection, we can help. See your GP early, if you notice any changes. Use your intuition.”

She advised exercise and with diet, all things in moderation. She said, “Obesity affects this. We need to be very aware of exercise and we need to exercise three times a week. Alcohol comes into it as well. We would like to have alcohol free days; diet, exercise and lose the alcohol.”

She also stated that the exact causes of breast cancer remain elusive. She said, “I go overseas every year and I look for the causes of breast cancer and I don’t see it. Diet on its own is not the reason we have breast cancer and it is also not because we don’t look after ourselves. With excellent treatment, the survival of breast cancer patients is 85 per cent and we have new approaches like intra-beam, where we can treat patients with radiotherapy during surgery, and drugs like herceptin. I work with an excellent team. The support breast cancer patients receive is significant. I can’t say enough about that.

“Mammograms do work, other things don’t. Find it early; don’t be afraid to go to your GP.”

Organisers arranged raffles with prizes donated by BJ Ball and Fujifilm. Ruth Cobb thanked the participants and sponsors and signed off by pointing out that, “Mamogramming your breasts is far more important than instagramming them.”

Pictured above, from left: Surgeon Belinda Scott; Tania McDougall and Lisa Hegh from BJ Ball; and Heather Leftus from PrintNZ

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