Pink October: Geneva hospitals to raise awareness of breast cancer

Pink October: being young and suffering from breast cancer Keystone-SDA

In Switzerland, as elsewhere in the world, the incidence of breast cancer is on the rise among young women. To mark Pink October, Geneva University Hospitals (HUG) and its partners are mobilising to inform and raise awareness.

+Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox

Conferences, stands and discovery and well-being days are being organised for women of all ages.

Every year in Switzerland more than 6,650 new cases of breast cancer are recorded, as well as more than 1,400 deaths. Although it mainly affects women over 50, the number of cases in women under 45 is rising, making breast cancer the leading cause of death in women under 40, according to the HUG in a press release.

In women under 50, the lack of systematic screening and changes linked to pregnancy often delay diagnosis, leading to more extensive treatment and a poorer prognosis. Preventive measures are available, such as breast self-observation and taking into account family history, to reduce the risks and encourage early diagnosis.

+ Swiss breast cancer screening quality varies across cantons

Educational stands

Prevention Month kicks off on October 2 in Meyrin, with “Mes seins et moi” (My breasts and me) information stands at Hôpital de La Tour. This will be followed in Geneva on October 7 by a conference at the HUG on breast cancer in young women, as well as educational stands with a giant model to help people better understand the anatomy of the breast and the development of the disease.

The awareness campaign will continue in Nyon on October 10, with the same model on display in the La Combe shopping centre. The following day Hôpital de La Tour will be hosting a “We can do it!” sports and prevention day, combining physical, nutritional and educational workshops.

Pink yoga

The programme will be rounded off by a number of wellness events: a pink yoga class at the HUG on October 13, a wellness day at Nyon Hospital on October 14, and a round-table discussion at the Grand Bain in Geneva on October 16. Finally, on October 30, a public conference at the Business Federation of French-speaking Switzerland will address the issue of fertility after a cancer diagnosis.

Most of these events are open to the public. Registration is recommended and sometimes compulsory.

Translated from French by DeepL/ts

How we work 

We select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools to translate them into English. A journalist then reviews the translation for clarity and accuracy before publication.  

Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. The news stories we select have been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team from news agencies such as Bloomberg or Keystone.

If you have any questions about how we work, write to us at [e-mail]