A 'rundezvous' with Avon

Breast cancer is something most women can relate to. Either you have it, you know somebody who has it, or you’re afraid to have it. Did you know that one in eight women would get breast cancer in her lifetime? That breast cancer risk increases with age and every woman is at risk? That every 13 minutes a woman dies of breast cancer?

According to the Philippine Cancer Society, breast cancer is the No. 1 cancer in the Philippines today. The Philippine Cancer Registry lists more than 10,000 cases annually (and counting) with a mortality rate of 40 percent. The Philippines has the highest incidence rate of breast cancer in the Asian region and the ninth highest incidence rate in the world.

Amid these grim statistics, Avon recently called on everyone to step out and step forward against breast cancer as it launched the 2010 Kiss Goodbye to Breast Cancer (KGBC) campaign at The Conservatory of the Peninsula Manila.

Of course, you’re familiar with the Avon Lady who knocks on your door to offer you those knockout Avon cosmetics and other products. Or maybe she sits beside you at work, making sure she slips an Avon catalog on your desk for you to look at come break time. I have friends who now have beautiful homes and look forward to a beautiful future from being Avon ladies.

And now, Avon knocks on everyone’s hearts, to step out of your home and join this year’s Avon Walk & Run Against Breast Cancer. The walk events will be held on three consecutive Sundays: Oct. 3 at SM Mall of Asia open grounds and SM Bacolod; Oct. 10 at Avon Cagayan de Oro and SM Lucena; Oct. 17 at SM Baguio. The run events will be held on Oct. 3 at SM MOA open grounds and Oct. 10 at Avon Cagayan de Oro.

It’s a cause closest to the heart of Avon Philippines president and general manager Mike Gudgin, who may well be every woman’s breast friend. Mike must love Avon so much he’s been with the company for 32 years now. Looking dapper in his suit with a matching big smile, the very affable Mike tells us, “I’ve worked in a number of different countries for Avon. Before the Philippines, I was in South Africa for four years. We did walks every year in South Africa, both in Johannesburg and Cape Town and Durban. Before that, I was running in Central Europe for Avon, and we used to do walks in Budapest, Hungary, and Prague, Czech Republic, and all over Central Europe. Before that, I was in Ukraine. We used to do walks in Ukraine. It was very nice.”

How is the Kiss Goodbye to Breast Cancer campaign doing?

Mike reports that the campaign has been hugely successful, nobody has ever raised $640 million. In the United States, the Washington walk alone a year ago raised a whopping $8.5 million!

“The campaign is doing extremely well,” says a visibly pleased Mike. “It’s more difficult in some countries than others to raise money. It’s difficult to raise money in some developing markets because people don’t have a lot of money to give to charity, but people are very, very willing and it’s not the amount, every little bit helps. We’re very successful. We’ve opened mammography centers in many cities in those countries. We’ve also done a lot of training of radiographers and nursing staff.”

He’s happy to add, “The crusade is alive and well in many, many countries. All the money raised goes to the crusade, and we use it for equipment, building hospital wings, opening medical centers, training and education throughout the world.”

The money goes into research and development, particularly in the US, where Avon has been working with some American universities and medical schools for more than 20 years now doing research.

Mike informs us, “I think women are more aware (of breast cancer) but not aware enough, particularly in markets like Africa, where women generally consider it something you shouldn’t talk about, and a little bit shameful if you might have it so they have to be encouraged to speak up. So a lot of education is involved because a lot of it is just ignorance, nobody’s ever educated people to understand it.”

Awareness, education, and early detection are the keys to beating this disease.

“In the Philippines, Avon is hoping for 40,000 runners this year across the five walks and runs, which should be a new goal for us,” Mike points out.

The Avon walk/run usually happens in September and October in various parts of the world, with October as the key month because it’s that time of the year when a lot of countries celebrate International Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

With Avon’s global presence, the walks and runs are going on in more than a hundred countries around the world.

To keep you abreast of Avon’s other passionate advocacies, Mike shares, “Avon has three main campaigns. One is protecting the planet (Hello Green Tomorrow, which is about looking after the environment). Then there’s Speak Out Against Domestic Violence, which is getting people to acknowledge that domestic violence exists not just in developing markets but in developed markets as well; it’s a global problem, But by far, the biggest is breast cancer, which I’m sure we’ll be involved with forever or at least until they find a cure. Everybody knows someone who has breast cancer.”

Mike is absolutely looking forward to the run. “It’s such a great cause and a lot of fun, too.”

Advocacy ambassador and popular actress Iza Calzado, together with fitness experts and breast cancer survivors, went on stage to give very practical race preparation tips for the 5km run events, a new component of the campaign, aimed at drawing in the steadily growing community of runners in the country. Limbering up for fun and for a cause, the young actress likened the breathing exercises to “breathing hope to countless women battling cancer” and the stretches to “reaching out to touch the lives of those affected by cancer (both the victims and their loved ones).”

Iza asserts with a passion, “Today, breast cancer is the No. 1 killer of Filipino women. Anyone can be a victim of this disease — mothers, daughters, sisters, friends. We always have a reason for doing things, and I think that our loved ones are the best reasons to join the Avon walk and run events.”

Now, this is one “rundezvous” we shouldn’t miss!

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For a registration fee of P500, participants will receive the Avon KGBC race kit, which includes a singlet, race number, and giveaway. Those interested may sign up for the run events at the following participating Avon locations: Taft, Shaw, EDSA, Makati head office, and Cagayan de Oro. The top three winners for both male and female categories will win cash prizes. Online registration can also be made through the Avon KGBC website http://www.avonkgbcphilippines.com or visit ROX at The Fort and Royal Sporting House in Glorietta 4 for interested Manila runners.