BY TASNEEM AL-GHAMDI (COMD/III)
On October 21, during Breast Cancer Awareness month, Bilkent International Forum (BIF) kicked off its first event, the Think Pink Campaign, to promote awareness of the disease. The campaign lasted for two weeks.
During the first week, BIF hosted a guest speaker, Dr. Ömer Arda Çetinkaya from the Department of General Surgery at İbni Sina Hospital. He visited Bilkent to inform students about breast cancer and talk about some common misconceptions regarding the disease.
The meeting commenced with a welcoming speech by the BIF coordinator, followed by a short introduction to the campaign by a BIF member, which highlighted the importance of raising awareness about breast cancer and explained the idea behind the Think Pink Campaign. This was followed by Dr. Çetinkaya’s presentation.
He began by giving background information about breast cancer, its history and its symptoms, and then proceeded to discuss the different ways of diagnosing the disease, noting that self-detection can be the “best doctor.” Dr. Çetinkaya also informed the students about the methods of self-detection. Additionally, he talked about some misconceptions regarding breast cancer. For example, the disease is usually associated with women, but in fact men can get it too, although they do so very rarely. He ended his presentation by reminding everyone that treatment is possible when you are aware of the disease, especially in the first stages. Dr. Çetinkaya welcomed students’ questions and answered them after his presentation.
The following week, BIF wrapped up its Think Pink Campaign by setting up a stand where students were welcome to stop by and gain more knowledge about breast cancer by asking questions and picking up flyers. They could also participate in the Think Pink Raffle Game, which encouraged students to further test their knowledge about the disease and win a mini Very Cupcake for three correctly answered questions.