LAHORE: Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Gulzar Ahmed inaugurated the building of Pink Ribbon Hospital, the first-ever dedicated breast cancer hospital not only in Pakistan but worldwide.

Addressing the gathering, the CJP said: "It is heart-wrenching to learn, in a country where the population of women is in majority, there is no specialized breast cancer institute for them. How can we neglect the deaths of 40,000 women due to breast cancer each year. Every institute and department should seriously consider this matter and establish breast cancer hospitals and clinics in every city of the country, because early detection and right treatment is a must for their survival."

He said everyone should be thankful to Pink Ribbon for creating breast cancer awareness and establishing Pakistan's first dedicated breast cancer hospital.

"I thank Omer Aftab and assure Supreme Court's continuous support to his mission. If our coming here contributes to women health in any way, we will come again and again," he mentioned.

The Pink Ribbon Breast Cancer Hospital is a fully charitable organization which depends on the generous donations of kind-hearted individuals and partners. The complete diagnostic facilities including shear-wave ultrasound and 3D mammogram will be provided in four months' time. Followed by chemotherapy, operation theater, and in-patient services in next eight months. Upon completion, the hospital will be able to provide world-class treatment to 40,000 deserving breast cancer patients, annually.

It may be added that in Pakistan every ninth woman is prone to develop breast cancer in her lifetime; a country where annually 40,000 women die due to breast cancer and 90,000 new cases are reported, educating women on this deadly disease is of prime importance.

While addressing the event, CEO of Pink Ribbon Omer Aftab said: "The journey of Pink Ribbon has been full of challenges. There was a time when even mentioning the word Breast Cancer was a taboo, which has now become a priority topic in the national health agenda. Since its inception in 2004, Pink Ribbon has educated 1.3 million young girls on breast self-examination, and 18 million women on early detection techniques. Our consistent campaigns and various community engagement initiatives have led to a 400 percent increase in mammogram screening in Pakistan."

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021