During this month of the year, thousands of events are organized throughout the territory, monuments such as the Eiffel Tower are decorated in pink, many actors mobilize, awards are given to support research… Looking back, “we can measure the enormous impact of the month of October pink,” notes Coralie Marjollet, president of Imagyn, an association that supports women affected by gynecological pelvic cancer. “It has had the merit of putting breast cancer in the spotlight and reminding women of the importance of getting mammograms,” she says.
“Freeing the Word”
In the same spirit, his association created “Turquoise September” in France seven years ago. Initially, it was the former president of the United States, Barack Obama, who wanted to dedicate the month of September 2016 to ovarian cancer awareness, from which his mother died. The Imagyn Association imported the initiative to France the following year. Turquoise is associated with it because it is the chosen ribbon color internationally to talk about ovarian cancer.
Slowly, slowly, the campaign is making the front page of newspapers in the networks, in the mass media, in hospitals… “The more we dare to communicate about these types of cancer, the less ashamed women affected by this disease will be, in while others will consider screening. ”, hopes Coralie Marjollet. At the beginning of the school year, it is another opportunity for the association to support vaccination against papillomavirus (HPV), the cause of many cancers (cervical, vulva, vagina, ENT, anus…), which will be offered again in the middle. school in the 5th grade this year.
“Golden” September also comes from a movement – “Gold In September” – born in the United States in 2012, which this time aims to highlight the fight against childhood cancer. “Americans are ahead of the curve when it comes to getting the word out, we said we had to launch this highlight in France because children are often the most forgotten in research,” says Perrine de Longevialle, director of brand and philanthropy of The Gustave-Roussy Anticancer Institute, which launched the project in 2016. The opportunity to “give visibility to these pediatric cancers”, but also to raise funds: “20 million euros from the start of the initiative”, she says with satisfaction.
“we trivialize”
September has also been “red” for three years to raise awareness of blood cancers. Each year, they affect around 45,000 people in France. “Five new types of cancer are diagnosed every hour,” explains Karin Tourmente-Leroux, president of the association “Living with NMP” (myeloproliferative neoplasias are rare blood cancers). Three years ago, she launched the first edition of “Red September” to “raise awareness among the general public.”
“Many types of blood cancer are unknown and patients often feel alone in their fight,” she says, hoping to “support research.” Other “colorful” months will follow each other throughout the year, such as the “Blue March”, dedicated to colorectal cancer, or “Green June”, cervical cancer awareness month. An abundance likely to confuse messages? For Mario Di Palma, an oncologist at Gustave-Rousy, “the benefits of this important and varied communication far outweigh the potential drawbacks.”