Your guide to International Day Against Breast Cancer activities in Malaga and along the Costa del Sol

The Spanish association against cancer (AECC) is once again running an awareness campaign with more than 100 activities taking place in Malaga province to mark International Day Against Breast Cancer on 19 October.

The 14 local branches of the AECC and the provincial branch in Malaga city will be organising activities with 75 prevention information tables in more than 25 municipalities in the province and the main buildings and monuments will be lit up in pink.

In addition, the provincial headquarters in Malaga, together with the historic centre association will carry out the campaign 'El Foco Solidario', (the charity focus) where more than 60 shops in the city centre will illuminate their shop windows in pink throughout October in support of women with breast cancer.

The association also highlighted the agreement it has reached with Clínicas Guadalhorce to promote the prevention of breast cancer and to raise awareness so that women have mammograms and ultrasound scans for an increasingly earlier detection of tumours.

Likewise, the 'Let's talk about Cancer' conferences will be held every Thursday in October with four main weekly themes. On 10 October, the day will be dedicated to information and psychological counselling; on the 17 October the focus will be on advice on social resources including incapacity, disability, social vouchers and advance living wills.

On 24 October there will be a comprehensive conference on the wellbeing of patients, where physical rehabilitation, nutrition and the pelvic floor will be discussed and on 31 October there will be a medical conference on breast cancer given by Dr Isabel García Ríos.

The activities began on 14 September with the participation of ten patients in the Pasarela Larios fashion show with designs by the couturier Jesús Segado.

In addition, two exhibitions will be held, one in Alhaurín de la Torre, where the exhibition 'Pink is more than just a colour', consisting of ten text posters on the work of the association and ten photographs of patients, will once again be installed in Calle Málaga.

The second exhibition is in Fuengirola and will be installed on the promenade until November, based on the photos that the volunteers, professionals and patients of the branch have taken for the 2024 charity calendar.

In addition to setting up ten tables in health centres, hospitals, companies and shopping centres, the association will participate in the reading of the manifesto that the United Against Cancer Development Association will hold on 16 October in Malaga city hall with the rest of the associations that work in the fight against cancer.

During October, different walks will also be organised at local venues to raise awareness of the importance of prevention and early diagnosis of breast cancer. The first venue to organise it, in collaboration with the La Verónica Shopping Centre, will be Antequera on 19 October, which will conclude with a healthy breakfast.

On Sunday 20 October the Fuengirola, Mijas, Benalmádena, Nerja, Coín and Rincón de la Victoria centres will hold their walks to raise awareness for prevention and to show their support for cancer patients. On 27 October Torremolinos will be the venue for the last walk of the month in the province.

There will also be sporting competitions, such as the Padel Tournament that the Junta del Distrito Este de Málaga is going to organise on 19 October at the Club Mediterráneo; and charity dinners, such as the one organised by Fernando Luis Aisa on 4 October at the Kaleido Restaurant to benefit the AECC and in memory of Imperio Argentina.

Another important event that will take place is the concert that the band Back to the Rock will give on 26 October at the Finca El Portón for the benefit of the Alhaurín de la Torre branch with music from the 80's and rock.

The association also wanted to highlight the support of companies such as Mapfre, BP of the Badía Group, Concentrix or Próxima Farmacias who are selling material of the association in their facilities, as well as Cemosa and the College of Pharmacists as sponsors of 'Let's Talk about Cancer'.

Once again, the Marbella branch will be in charge of closing the activities of the breast campaign with the celebration of a new edition of the Pink Tide Race, on 17 November, which aims to exceed 3,000 participants and which this year will once again end with a special event in the Palacio de Ferias y Congresos de Marbella.

With the slogan 'Pink is just pink, but with you it is support and research' the aim is to show "that there is still a lot to do and that behind this colour there is research, support and accompaniment". This year the focus will also be on the needs of breast cancer patients and survivors to raise awareness in society about what it means to live with and survive breast cancer.

According to a study by the Cancer Observatory, more than a third of survivors have a poor quality of life. Of the 18,340 women attended to by the association throughout Spain, 64% needed psychological care, 19% of the total for anxiety and stress. Forty-two percent needed social care, 10% of the total for issues related to social security benefits and 19% needed health care as a result of side effects of treatments.

Last year, the association's professionals in Malaga attended 733 breast cancer patients out of the 1,259 women diagnosed in the province, which represents 58.2% of all cases. Of these, 546 required psychological care in a total of 2,146 sessions offered. In social care there were 242 beneficiaries who needed 455 sessions.

In addition, throughout the year, 228 group activities were carried out to improve the wellbeing of patients and their families. For their part, the physiotherapists attended 445 women and gave 3,983 sessions, most of them related to the prevention of lymphoedema and the side effects of the intervention.

Finally, the AECC highlighted that 635 donations or loans of orthopaedic material such as wheelchairs, articulated beds, wigs, turbans, breast prostheses or cushions for women who have undergone surgery were made from the Malaga headquarters. Behind the colour pink there are also social needs, which is why in 2023 some 17,000 euros of economic aid was given to 30 families who were unable to cover their basic needs.