Cyprus Anti-Cancer Society supports over 4,000 patients annually

More than 4,000 patients and families are served annually free of charge by the Cyprus Anti-Cancer Society. To achieve this, the practical support of society, as well as businesses is required, said Chairman of the charity Dr Adamos Adamou, during Thursday’s press conference.

The press conference also served as the launch event for the 48th Christodoula March, to be held on April 9 as well as a roadside fundraiser on April 6.

This year the motto of Christodoula March, the longest running public awareness campaign on cancer is “Be there”, which Adamou noted means “to be there for the patient, to be there for the health professionals who tirelessly provide valuable care services, to be there with us in supporting the charitable work of the Cancer Society.”

“Patients will be going through a difficult journey and what they need is for us to be there for them with respect and care”, Adamou said, adding that “advances in medicine, prevention and early diagnosis allow us to reject terms such as terminal illness and incurable disease when talking about cancer because many cancers can be cured”.

The actual ‘March’ is a symbolic walk of about 4km held in memory of Christodoula, a cancer patient who died alone and helpless under an orange tree in the village of Sotira in 1974, after walking there from Agios Memnonas in occupied Famagusta.

This year’s events, with the cooperation of the Bank of Cyprus, include the unveiling of the Christodoula monument in the Municipality of Sotira.

In his address, the Deputy CEO and & Chief of Business at Bank of Cyprus Charis Pouangare appealed to everyone to “Be there”, making their contribution to all the points that will operate for this purpose. He added that financial institutions play a very important role in society, actively participating in initiatives that focus on people and their problems, so the Bank of Cyprus has been supporting the Cyprus Anti-Cancer Society since 1998, the year the Bank’s Oncology Centre ‘Arodafnousa’ opened.