In just 31 days, the National Breast Cancer Foundation aims to raise $5 million, funding research that will bring us closer to finding a cure for breast cancer. Here’s how you can help make it happen.

October is breast cancer month, the time of year when organisations across the globe work together to foster awareness about the disease and raise funds for breast cancer research.

It’s estimated that one in nine women will develop breast cancer in their lifetime. With approximately 14,000 new diagnoses each year and 2600 deaths, breast cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer-related death in Australian women.

At the forefront of the effort in Australia to find better methods of prevention, detection and hopefully a cure for breast cancer, is the National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF). Established in 1994, this not-for-profit foundation’s focus is on engaging the community and raising funds for breast cancer research. Since its inception the NBCF has distributed over $67 million towards some 256 breast cancer research projects. Research has led to earlier and more accurate detection, as well as better treatments, and these advances are constantly improving the survival rate for breast cancer sufferers.

The research projects that the NBCF funds address all aspects of the breast cancer experience, from prevention, hereditary and treatment research, to support and palliative care for sufferers. Every prospective project is subjected to rigorous peer review, to ensure that it will make a significant contribution to improving our understanding of the disease.

Among the research funded by the NBCF is the kConFab project, where Australian and New Zealand scientists are identifying families that have an increased risk of breast cancer and finding out if factors such as diet or lifestyle choices have an effect on breast cancer developing. The NBCF is also funding research into lymphoedema in breast-cancer survivors, a condition where a damaged lymphatic system leads to swollen, hot parts of the body, as well as looking at breast cancer sufferers’ emotional concerns; communications training for doctors; and providing women in rural areas with online support.

The NBCF’s aim this October is to raise $5 million to support breast cancer research. Pink Ribbon Day, on the fourth Monday of October (25 October this year), is the focus of many breast cancer events and fundraising activities.

To achieve this fundraising target, the NBCF is encouraging everyone to hold Pink Ribbon breakfasts during the month of October, raising funds through gold-coin donations, raffles and auctions. To register your own Pink Ribbon breakfast event and receive information on hosting a breakfast plus great recipes to try, visit www.pinkribbonbreakfast.org.au.

You can also support the NBCF’s endeavours by purchasing pink ribbons and other pink merchandise, with the proceeds funding vital breast cancer research.

To order a box of Pink Ribbon merchandise from the NBCF to sell to friends, family and workmates, go to www.pinkribbon.org.au.

NZBCF asks you to….Take Action this October

This October the New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation is challenging you to TAKE ACTION to raise awareness about breast cancer and to raise funds for proactive health and wellness programmes.

October is breast cancer awareness month globally. In New Zealand The NZBCF is part of a global movement, working towards a world without breast cancer. The NZBCF is asking the public to take action against the disease that is the number one cancer killer of New Zealand women.

Breast cancer will affect 1 in 9 New Zealand women in their lifetime and more than 2600 are diagnosed with the disease every year.  Most poignantly, more than 600 women lose their lives to breast cancer in New Zealand every year. This compares to a death toll of almost 400 New Zealanders who die on the roads each year.

Join together this October and help to shape a world without breast cancer. For more information about how you can take action this October visit www.takeaction.org.nz or to find out more about the New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation by visiting www.nzbcf.org.nz

For more information on the National Breast Cancer Foundation, visit www.nbcf.org.au or call 1300 803 551.