Let the light in this Christmas
Imagine for a minute that you are a woman in Gaza. You think you have found a lump, but your instinctive reaction is to block it out and hope that you are wrong because you have seen how other women with breast cancer have been stigmatised.

Challenging shame and despair: Eman Sleem from Al Ahli Arab Hospital’s breast cancer screening programme
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You are embarrassed to go to the hospital. And if you discover that you have breast cancer, how will you tell your husband and your family? Will your husband leave you and take another wife? Will your daughter be able to find a husband when people think that cancer is hereditary?

And what about the cost of treatment? How could you afford to travel to Jerusalem for radiotherapy when your husband is unemployed and your family relies on food support? Would you even get a permit? And how will your children cope without you when they are already traumatised by recent conflicts?

Breast cancer kills more women in Gaza than any other form of cancer. Survival rates are just 30-40% compared to 87% in the UK. Women are reluctant to seek an early diagnosis, so around 60% of women present themselves for diagnosis after the cancer has spread.

Screening is so simple and so effective. If we can work with women so that they can identify breast cancer early, we can treat it. We need to make screening normal for women and change traditional attitudes. At the moment, too many women die. Suhaila Tarazi, Director of Al Ahli Arab Hospital, Gaza City

Our Christmas Appeal this year is for Al Ahli Arab Hospital, which supports women with breast cancer and works to educate women on why early diagnosis is essential. The Big Give will double every gift you give.

Early detection: Eman receives breast cancer screening at Al Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City
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Let the light in this Christmas 

Women in Gaza are three times more likely to die from breast cancer than in the UK due to a lack of information, social taboos and the ongoing Israeli blockade. Early identification, providing free, easily accessible services and supporting women to meet other women who have been through treatment, is vital.

• £10 will allow Al Ahli to teach a woman how to identify a lump and introduce her to available treatments. They aim to educate 5,000 women each year.
  
  
• £45 will pay for a woman to have a mammogram. Al Ahli aims to screen 3,000 women each year.
  
  
• £80 will support a woman who has had breast cancer to come to Al Ahli’s ‘Health, Mind and Body’ group where she will receive psychosocial support, meet other women who have received treatment and learn how to talk about her experiences.
  
  
• £120 will support a woman in obtaining a visa to travel to Jerusalem for treatment.

Your gift to Gaza this Christmas could help save the lives of many women. 
Thank you for your support.