Sundays are for snooze. But on October 29, Mini Seashore Ground in Vashi, Navi Mumbai, woke up to the sound of happy feet.
THE WEEK, in association with Apollo Hospitals, Navi Mumbai, organised a walkathon to create awareness about breast cancer. But first came warmup―-participants attended a high-on-energy Zumba session for 30 minutes. At 6.30am, the walkathon was flagged off by Santosh Marathe, CEO, western region, Apollo Hospitals, lead consultant for breast surgery Dr Nita S. Nair and senior consultant for medical oncology Dr Tejinder Singh of Apollo Cancer Centres, Navi Mumbai, and Richa Bhargava, wellness and leadership coach associated with Apollo Hospitals.
Participants attend a Zumba session ahead of the walkathon.
“Today more than a thousand people have gathered at the venue and this shows how crucial it is to tackle the issue of breast cancer,”said Dr Rajesh Shinde, oncologist, Apollo Hospitals. Shinde, who also walked for the cause, stressed on the need for regular checkups among women, especially those above 40 years.
Participants during the walkathon.
Richa Bhargava said it was important for women to look after themselves. Agreed Dr Kiran Shingote, who said that through this initiative “we, at Apollo Cancer Centres, hope to highlight the significance of early diagnosis in breast cancer”. The event also saw five breast cancer survivors share their journey. They were later felicitated with mementos.
A breast cancer survivor being felicitated by Apollo doctors.
Given the overwhelming response to the event, THE WEEK’s resident chief general manager Shree Kumar Menon said that THE WEEK would continue with this initiative and remain committed to the cause of breast cancer awareness.