SAUDI ARABIA/FILE: Saudi women climb up to Mount Everest Base Camp to raise cancer awareness

Record ID: 189000

  • Title: SAUDI ARABIA/FILE: Saudi women climb up to Mount Everest Base Camp to raise cancer awareness
  • Date: 11th June 2012
  • Summary: JEDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA (JUNE 6, 2012) (REUTERS) POSTER OF THE WOMEN WHO CLIMBED MOUNT EVEREST WITH WRITING READING (In Arabic) 'A WOMAN'S JOURNEY: DESTINATION MOUNT EVEREST' UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN ANNOUNCING THE PRESENTATION OF AWARDS TO THE WOMEN WHO CLIMBED EVEREST BASE CAMP TWO WOMEN CLAPPING WOMEN WHO CLIMBED MOUNT EVEREST BASE CAMP RECEIVING AWARDS VARIOUS OF AUDIENCE MEMBERS LISTENING TO THE WOMEN WHO CLIMBED MOUNT EVEREST BASE CAMP SPEAKING ABOUT THEIR JOURNEY THERE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) LINA ALMAEENA, MEMBER OF THE 11 WOMEN's CAMPAIGN, SPEAKING TO THE AUDIENCE, SAYING: "Globally speaking, the highest proportion of women who get breast cancer, particularly at a young age, is in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. They get cancer over the age of 40, in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, woman can be 18 years old and can get the disease." MEMBERS OF THE WOMEN'S CAMPAIGN POSING FOR PHOTOGRAPH (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) HASNAA MOKHTAR, MEDIA DIRECTOR OF THE WOMEN'S CAMPAIGN AND MEMBER OF THE CLIMBING TEAM TO MOUNT EVEREST, SAYING: "Each one of the climbers has a sister or friend or is a relative of either a survivor of breast cancer or a person still being treated for cancer. Some of the campaign members have more than one person who has the illness. Each participant joined the campaign with the image of a particular cancer victim in her mind." (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) HATOON MADANI, A MEMBER OF THE WOMEN'S CAMPAIGN, SAYING: "It's nice when a person can be of service. It is nice when we make a difference, just by helping people in creating an awareness campaign and people say 'Thank you for educating us.' This in itself is a pleasure." (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) ALIA AL-GHAMDI, A MEMBER OF THE WOMEN'S CAMPAIGN, SAYING: "After the fatigue, suffering and hunger and all that we have been through in the end we said: 'God, this is how we feel. I felt the same as women with breast cancer. This is the feeling you have when you hear you have been cured 100 percent of cancer after treatment. The women with cancer feel they are reborn and have been given a new life. We felt the same thing. We felt the same as the cured female cancer sufferers and felt we had experienced what they have been through. It's a feeling of victory that the cured cancer sufferer has conquered the difficulties and overcome the pain and defeated breast cancer." LOGO OF THE WOMEN'S CAMPAIGN READING (In English) 'A WOMAN`S JOURNEY. DESTINATION MOUNT EVEREST'.
  • Embargoed: 26th June 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Saudi Arabia
  • Country: Saudi Arabia
  • Topics: Environment,Health
  • Reuters ID: LVAD33HXN2N3HCYYPD42FENG2URG
  • Story Text: A group of Saudi women who climbed up the Base Camp of Mount Everest, the world's highest mountain, to raise cancer awareness, received awards for their achievement at a ceremony in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Wednesday (June 6).
    The 11 women climbed for 12 days, starting their expedition on May 7.
    The ascent to Base Camp took the women nine days. Then they walked down in three days.
    The women walked around six hours per day on some days and between eight and 12 hours on other days.
    Base Camp of Mount Everest is located at 5,364 metres (17,598 feet) above sea level.
    Saudi Princess Reema Bint Bandar Bin Sultan Al Saud led the team in the cancer awareness campaign which has been entitled 'A Woman's Journey: Destination Mount Everest.' The climb was sponsored by Zahra Breast Cancer Association, among other organizations.
    The aim of the women's campaign was to inspire Saudi women to lead a healthier lifestyle by staying physically fit and to educate the public of the causes and effects of breast cancer as well as the importance of early detection.
    The majority of over 60 studies published in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia have shown that physically active women have a lower risk of developing breast cancer than inactive women.
    Breast cancer has climbed from accounting for 7.6 percent of all cancer cases in Saudi Arabia 10 years ago to the current 24 percent of all cancer cases, according to the Saudi Cancer Registry at King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Center.
    Over 8,000 Saudi Arabian women are diagnosed with breast cancer each year and around 50 to 60 percent of cases are detected at an advanced stage.
    Lina Almaeena, one of the women who participated in the Mount Everest climb, said the proportion of the Saudi female population who are breast cancer sufferers is comparatively high.
    "Globally speaking, the highest proportion of women who get breast cancer, particularly at a young age, is in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. They get cancer over the age of 40, in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, woman can be 18 years old and can get the disease."
    The women climbers describe themselves as "Pink Warriors", because pink is the colour associated with the worldwide campaign to raise breast cancer awareness.
    The age of the women climbers ranged between 25 and 50 years old.
    All the women taking part in the climb are either relatives of breast cancer sufferers or survivors themselves.
    "Each one of the climbers has a sister or friend or is a relative of either a survivor of breast cancer or a person still being treated for cancer. Some of the campaign members have more than one person who is infected. Each participant joined the campaign with the image of a particular cancer victim in her mind," Hasna'a Mokhtar, media director for the campaign and a member of the climbing team, said.
    Another of the Mount Everest climbers, Hatoon Madani, said that making a contribution to raising cancer awareness brought its own rewards.
    "It's nice when a person can be of service. It is nice when we make a difference, just by helping people in creating an awareness campaign and people say 'Thank you for educating us.' This in itself is a pleasure," said Madani.
    The women who climbed Mount Everest said the dangers of their arduous expedition had made them aware of the challenges women who have been cured of breast cancer have overcome in their fight against the disease.
    "After the fatigue, suffering and hunger and all that we have been through in the end we said: 'God, is this is how we feel. I felt the same as women with breast cancer. This is the feeling you have when you hear you have been cured 100 percent of cancer after treatment. The women with cancer feel they are reborn and have been given a new life. We felt the same thing. We felt the same as the cured female cancer sufferers and felt we had experienced what they have been through. It's a feeling of victory that the cured cancer sufferer has conquered the difficulties and overcome the pain and defeated breast cancer," one of the climbers, Alia al-Ghamdi, said.
    The women prepared for their expedition to Mount Everest Base Camp by climbing heights in Jeddah, Mecca, and other parts of Saudi Arabia.
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