According to estimates, there are about 90-100,000 people in Malaysia living with cancer at any one time. It is estimated that one in four Malaysians (1:4) will develop cancer by the age of 75 years old.
That is why HELP University’s American Canadian Education (ACE) decided to organized HAIR-LOWEEN on 30th October 2019 – an awareness campaign promoting cancer awareness and detection.
As October is the official “Cancer Awareness Month”, ACE in partnership with Dignity for Children Foundation together with the support of the Breast Cancer Welfare Association (BCWA) and Life Line Lab, have joined forces in an initiative a drive to promote awareness and support in early cancer detection and treatment as well as ways to bring dignity to the lives of survivors.
This initiative served as personal project to Dr. Brendan Gomez, the head of ACE who lost a friend from cancer recently.The launch of Help X Cancer saw brave students and volunteers donating their hair for cancer survivors.
All the hair collected during the event will be made into wigs, with each wig costing about RM300 to make.
Hair donor receiving a Henna tattoo for her kind and generous hair donation during the HAIR-LOWEEN.
Present at the event were volunteers from the Breast Cancer Welfare Association (BCWA). They were on hand to guide female participants on how to conduct proper breast examinations and the importance of early breast cancer detections.
“Early detection is critical as it helps lessen the trauma, treatment and financial costs when faced with cancer”, says Janet Khor, Vice-President of Breast Cancer Welfare Association (BCWA). “And, peer support is important for cancer survivors. BCWA provides this throughout their journey of diagnosis, treatment and beyond”, she added.
HELP University’s ACE students dressing up for HAIR-L0WEEN.
Help x Cancer is made possible through partnerships with Life Line Lab, National Cancer Society Malaysia, Breast Cancer Welfare Malaysia, and Dignity Foundation.
About American Canadian Education (ACE) at HELP University
ACE offers degree pathways to over 100 American and Canadian universities. Our students have transferred to high-ranking universities including Princeton University, New York University, University of Waterloo, University of Chicago and University of Toronto.
Generally, students complete two years at HELP, and then transfer internationally to complete degrees in business, engineering, computer science, psychology, communication and other fields of study. ACE emphasizes on holistic development of young people, and the betterment of communities through education and outreach.
For more information on ACE, please visit https://university.help.edu.my
About Dignity for Children Foundation
Dignity has been providing education and care to underprivileged children for the past 20 years. From a classroom of just 20 students in 1999, Dignity is currently educating more than 1,760 students this year. Dignity is the largest and most comprehensive learning centre for the underprivileged in West Malaysia. Dignity is internationally recognized. Dignity hosted the 44th President of the United States, Mr. Barack Obama in 2015 and received the Sharjah International Award for Refugee Advocacy and Support in 2018.
For more information on Dignity, please visit www.dignityforchildren.org
About Breast Cancer Welfare Association (BCWA)
BCWA was founded in 1986 by medical specialists, who realised the need for peer support for women with breast cancer. It has a two-pronged approach in its services: (i) Improving the quality of life for women with breast cancer using the Reach to Recovery concept of psychosocial and material support; and (ii) Reducing the risk of premature mortality by providing public education, early detection of breast cancer and navigation of women for further investigations and timely medical treatment.
For more information on BCWA, please visit https://www.breastcancer.org.my
About Life Line Lab
Life Line Lab is creating a smooth-sailing, easy-going and engageable medical journey for patients and healthcare providers. As an ABCD technology solutions provider, we empower everyone with healthcare in their palms while keeping data safe and secure. We pool various healthcare resources and information and make it available as a one-stop go-to option for patients and doctors.
For more information on Life Line Lab, please visit https://www.lifelinelab.io
Join us for the upcoming HELP X CANCER Series:
