Pink lights in TA part of int'l campaign to fight breast cancer

Pink lights in TA part o

By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH
Tel Aviv's Sderot Rothschild will be colored with pink light Wednesday at 8 p.m. to kick off World Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October. The Israel Cancer Association (ICA) is organizing the campaign, and more than 200 landmarks around the world will turn pink - an effort of the Estee Lauder cosmetics company. To turn the world pink, the ICA says, women should go for the relevant check-ups to allow for early diagnosis of breast cancer and invest in prevention, such as exercising regularly to reduce their risk. Evelyn Lauder, the cosmetics company's senior vice president, who initiated the campaign, noted that the landmarks turning pink would include the 101-story building in Taipei, Taiwan, as well as the Tokyo Tower in Japan, the Sky Tower in New Zealand, the Millennium Memorial in China, the municipality building in Paris and Los Angeles International Airport. It is the 10th year in a row that Israel is participating. In previous years, the Israel Museum's Shrine of the Book and the Bridge of Strings in Jerusalem, as well as one of Tel Aviv's Azrieli skyscrapers and the Shalom Tower, were lit up in pink. During October, the ICA will organize a variety of informational activities to raise awareness of breast cancer and will hand out pink ribbons, the campaign's symbol, wherever Estee Lauder and Clinique products are sold. ICA director-general Miri Ziv noted that free educational events would be held for women who had overcome breast cancer, contracted the disease before age 40 or were at high risk of getting the cancer due to a family history and/or genetic factors. All women aged 50 to 70 should get a mammogram every two years, while high-risk women should begin earlier. For more information, call 1-800-599-995 or see the ICA Web site at www.cancer.org.il.