IKRIS Pharma’s Breast Cancer awareness campaign culminates with a Final Run in Noida

Noida, October 04, 2022: Having successfully conducted a Promo Run only last month as part of its extensive campaign to promote breast cancer awareness in the country, IKRIS Pharma, India’s leading rare disease and innovator drug access facilitator concluded the event with a Final Run today. Quite appropriately, the Final Run took place on the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of the Nation. Every year, Breast Cancer Awareness month is observed in October. Notably, with the release of a video In August this year, the company had launched the IKRIS Run. A post-Run interaction with Dr Meenu Walia, Senior Director & HOD, Dept of Medical Oncology and Hematology, Max Hospital, was also held making the whole event very meaningful.

In today’s Final Run comprising four separate events and held at i-THUM IT Park at Sector 62 in Noida, more than 500 participants from all ages and walks of life actively and enthusiastically competed. The four events that were held are as follows: 5 KM run, 10 Km run, 10 Mile run and a 3 KM walk. While the first three events were competitive in nature wherein winners were given awards, the last was a non-competitive event. Top males and females in the age groups of 16-35, 36-50 and 50 and above in each of the three competitive categories were given medals and certificates. Importantly, chip technology was used for sensing and recording the finishing time of all the competitors.

“There is no doubt that the entire campaign centered on promoting breast cancer awareness which we launched in August this year has been a magnificent success. While we rejoice in the successful conclusion of this event, we also feel humbled by the phenomenal level of response that have received from all sections of the society including doctors, healthcare professionals, health workers and above all, ordinary people from all over the country. At the same time, we must also record our gratitude to the thousands of social media champions who helped amplify our messaging across platforms and therefore contributed to the success of this programme. And last but not the least, we feel honoured to have been associated with Dr Meenu Walia, a prominent cancer expert in her own right and who has been a guiding force right through the whole campaign and whose deep insights on breast cancer would have been a great wealth of information for women and others, said Mr. Praveen Sikri, CEO, IKRIS Pharma.

“I have been privileged to have been so closely involved in this very noble campaign launched by IKRIS. Breast cancer is not only the most common malignancy in women globally, more disability-adjusted life years or DALYs are lost to breast cancer than any other cancer in the world. And in India, this cancer kills women more than any other cancer. While breast cancer is usually traced to family history, advancing age, exposure to radiation, reproductive history and alcohol and tobacco use, a worrying trend has been that even younger women are increasingly becoming susceptible to this cancer. Therefore, I would request all women to be utmost watchful even of the seemingly most insignificant symptoms showing on their breasts. Any new or unusual lump in breast or armpits, change in size or shape, dimpling or redness, change in the skin around the nipple area, or irregular nipple discharge must be instantly reported to a doctor and a mammogram conducted for a preliminary assessment. Also, while it’s highly unlikely for men to get this cancer, remember it is not completely impossible, said Dr (Prof) Meenu Walia, Senior Director & HOD, Dept of Medical Oncology and Hematology, Max Hospital, who is also the first DNB Medical Oncologist of India.