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This Christmas, our focus is on Gaza and the hope embodied in Al Ahli Arab Hospital’s breast cancer screening programme. 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. Can you help?
GOOD NEWS!
We have reached our initial target with The Big Give and unlocked the available match funding. In addition, we have found more generous funders prepared to give us further match funding, so all donations will continue to be doubled!
I have a message for breast cancer women. At the beginning of my disease, I was ashamed to go to the doctor or to investigate. If it is early detection, it will be easy for you to continue your life, but if it is too late, it is very bad for you. Nadaa — Gaza City
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.
Your gift to Gaza this Christmas could help save the lives of many women.
Thank you for your support.
We work alongside grass-roots partners in Palestine, South Africa, Nicaragua, Burundi, India and Tanzania.
Reaching children on the streets, addressing their trauma, working with them and their families to reintegrate them into their homes, to realise their rights and recover their future.
Working with local and international peace activists, and partnering with grass-roots projects, to call for a just peace, reconciliation and full equal rights for all Palestinians and Israelis.
Addressing the impact of climate change and the causes of extreme poverty, building sustainable rural communities and empowering them to realise their rights.
Bringing people together to meet our partners from around the world, visiting the communities they work in and seeing their projects in action — building solidarity and lasting friendships.
Amos Trust
St Clement’s
1 St Clement’s Court
London
EC4N 7HB
United Kingdom
Telephone:
+44 (0) 20 7588 2638
Email:
office@amostrust.org
Registered Charity No.
1164234
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