Healthcare | Tuesday 1 May, 2018 2:40 pm |

Friends of Cancer Patients (FOCP), the UAE - based non-profit organisation dedicated to fighting cancer has scooped the prestigious ‘3G Service Excellence Award for Social Sector and Philanthropy’ second year in a row in recognition of its activities to promote funding and raise awareness about cancer.

The 2018 award ceremony took place Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on April 23, and Her Excellency Nelofar Al Bastaki, Charge d'Affaires, UAE Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, received the award on FOCP’s behalf. The Global Good Governance Awards (3G Awards) have been developed by Cambridge IF Analytica as part of its social responsibility initiatives and celebrates individuals, governments, public and private institutions and NGOs that demonstrate making governance and sustainability a strategic priority of their organisations.   

Since winning this award in 2017, FOCP has continued strongly in their efforts to alleviate the sufferings of cancer patients and their families by offering financial, psychological and moral support through fundraising activities and free treatment, and have led several community initiatives, organised forums to heighten people’s awareness about the risks of cancer.

Through the course of 2017, FOCP launched several humanitarian initiatives that aim to promote community awareness about the disease. The foremost of these efforts was the annual pan-UAE Pink Caravan Ride breast cancer awareness campaign that offered free medical screenings to over 7,000 citizens and residents in a bid to sensitise them about the importance of early detection.

In November last year, FOCP brought the American Cancer Society’s ‘Relay for Life’ fundraising campaign for the first time on the UAE. The 24-hour walkathon saw participation of 52 schools, six universities, eight sponsors, 34 authorities and 67 cancer survivors. Later that month, they hosted more than 350 delegates and 80 expert speakers including scientists, medical pioneers, support groups, NGOs and civil societies from 68 countries across five continents at the second global forum on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in Sharjah, which aims to develop new strategies to prevent and curtail lifestyle diseases that kill 40 million people each year, accounting for 70% of all deaths globally.

FOCP also launched community based fundraising campaigns like, “Deserve a Life” and “Dirham for Hope”, aimed at supporting those who have difficulty in affording high costs of cancer treatment in the UAE.

HE Sawsan Jafar, Chairperson of FOCP Board of Directors, said: “This prestigious award celebrates FOCP’s longstanding commitment to social welfare and social responsibility. The fact that we have won the award again this year bears testimony to the exceptional efforts and leadership of all individuals who are part of FOCP, as well as partnering government organisations, corporations and civil society organisations who have taken our agenda of equipping the UAE community with better access to free health services and cancer awareness, many steps forward.”

“Since its inception in 1999, FOCP, under the directives and patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher Bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, Wife of the Ruler of Sharjah, Founder and Patron of FOCP, and International Ambassador of the World Cancer Declaration for Union for International Cancer Control (UICC), has delivered moral, financial, and clinical support to over thousands of patients and their families, regardless of their nationality, gender, age, religion, or ethnicity and increased awareness, especially around early detectable cancers mostly affecting people in the UAE. Even though FOCP has been dedicated to its cause for over 20 years, we feel have just about started scratching the surface of what we want to achieve. We have a long way to go, and prestigious awards like the 3G Awards offer excellent motivation,” she added.

FOCP was established to help alleviate the financial and emotional burden that cancer often imposes on cancer patients and their families and to raise awareness about the six early detectable forms of the disease; breast cancer, cervical cancer, prostate cancer, skin cancer, testicular cancer and colorectal cancer. Since being founded in 1999 the organisation has provided support to more than 4,200 cancer patients of all ages and nationalities across the UAE.