CHALFONT ST. GILES, England--()--GE Healthcare today announced its second ‘GE Global Pink Ribbons’ campaign will run in over 40 global locations during October 2012.
Building on the success of last year’s events, several thousand GE employees will come together to form ‘Human Ribbons’ and visually demonstrate the global fight against the disease during Breast Cancer Awareness Month. New countries taking part this year include Egypt, Venezuela and Ukraine. To follow the activities, see how the importance of awareness and early detection of breast cancer is being raised visit the GE Healthcare Newsroom and Breast Cancer Mosaic site - which is a dedicated site created to share stories from breast cancer survivors, family members and physicians to increase awareness around breast cancer and to inspire those who are going through a difficult time.
“We envision a day when cancer is no longer a deadly disease. Building on GE’s cancer commitment, we aim to bring the most promising cancer ideas to market, develop technologies that improve accuracy of diagnosis and enable more effective treatment decisions, and empower doctors and patients with better information,” said John Dineen, President and CEO of GE Healthcare.
Dineen continued, “Emphasis on awareness building and early diagnosis will significantly enhance the effectiveness of treatment and reduce healthcare costs. The Global Ribbons campaign is important as it spreads the powerful message that early detection can save lives.”
Awareness of the importance of early detection of breast cancer continues to be an important issue in both developed and developing countries; as worldwide breast cancer remains the most common invasive cancer in women. In 2008, breast cancer caused almost 460, 000 deaths worldwide, almost 14% of cancer deaths in women. 1 Lack of access to appropriate facilities, up-to-date imaging technologies or trained medical professionals mean that even today two-thirds of all women around the world must forgo regular breast screenings. In addition to raising awareness during Breast Cancer Awareness Month, GE Healthcare is committed to reaching many of these women through a series of in-country partnerships with governments, NGOs and local health partners that can help mobilize efforts on the ground in regions.
In addition to these “GE Global Pink Ribbons” events, GE Healthcare raises awareness around the battle against cancer through multiple online and social media channels.
- The #GetFit competition encouraged individuals and teams to post their healthy lifestyle choices on Twitter, Weibo or Facebook using the #GetFit hashtag; reinforcing the importance of a positive healthy lifestyle in cancer prevention. #GetFit cancer country ambassadors were showcased on Pinterest.
- GE recently launched the HealthyShare Facebook App. This new tool is a channel for people to share health goals, track progress against goals and use friends as sources of inspiration and motivation toward better health.
- In an effort to educate about the importance of asking questions for those diagnosed with cancer, and inform about how individualized cancer diagnostics and treatments can help drive positive outcomes, Is My Cancer Different? has been established as a resource.
- Later this month through the power of music, the company will launch an initiative based on Spotify, to support breast cancer patients.
GE Healthcare has been a recognized pioneer in the battle against cancer for over fifty years and last year announced a healthymagination commitment to help 10 million patients around the world by 2020. The investment commitment, $1bn over the next five years, is dedicated to R&D and delivery of better care for patients through expansion of its world-class technologies as well as advanced cancer diagnostic and molecular imaging capabilities.
Images available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/gehealthcare/sets/72157627809160108/
1 “World Cancer Report”. International Agency for Research on Cancer, 2008
About GE Healthcare
GE Healthcare provides transformational medical technologies and services that are shaping a new age of patient care. Our broad expertise in medical imaging and information technologies, medical diagnostics, patient monitoring systems, drug discovery, biopharmaceutical manufacturing technologies, performance improvement and performance solutions services help our customers to deliver better care to more people around the world at a lower cost. In addition, we partner with healthcare leaders, striving to leverage the global policy change necessary to implement a successful shift to sustainable healthcare systems.
Our “healthymagination” vision for the future invites the world to join us on our journey as we continuously develop innovations focused on reducing costs, increasing access and improving quality around the world. Headquartered in the United Kingdom, GE Healthcare is a unit of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE). Worldwide, GE Healthcare employees are committed to serving healthcare professionals and their patients in more than 100 countries. For more information about GE Healthcare, visit our website at www.gehealthcare.com
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