{"id":24408,"date":"2023-11-19T13:55:52","date_gmt":"2023-11-19T13:55:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/?p=24408"},"modified":"2023-11-19T13:55:52","modified_gmt":"2023-11-19T13:55:52","slug":"pfowas-annual-charity-bazaar-2023-azerbaijanchinajapa-indonesiamalaysiavietnam-thailandphilippinesturkiyetrncitalykyrgyz-tunisia-nepalmaldives-embassies-display-culture-cuis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/pfowas-annual-charity-bazaar-2023-azerbaijanchinajapa-indonesiamalaysiavietnam-thailandphilippinesturkiyetrncitalykyrgyz-tunisia-nepalmaldives-embassies-display-culture-cuis\/","title":{"rendered":"PFOWA\u2019s Annual Charity Bazaar 2023- Azerbaijan,China,Japa,, Indonesia,Malaysia,Vietnam, Thailand,Philippines,Turkiye,TRNC,Italy,Kyrgyz, Tunisia, Nepal,Maldives Embassies Display Culture & Cuisine"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"ISLAMABAD, Nov 19 (Staff Reporter + APP): First Lady Begum Samina Alvi on Sunday said that nearly 44,000 women died of breast cancer every year in Pakistan due to late diagnosis and stressed that thousands of women and their families could be saved if it was diagnosed at an earlier stage with chances of survival up to 98 percent. However, she regretted that there was a lack of awareness about the early symptoms of this disease in Pakistan. As a result, the disease kept on spreading silently and proved fatal.<\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n
The first lady was addressing at Pakistan Foreign Office Women\u2019s Association (PFOWA)\u2019s annual charity bazaar. The spouses of Islamabad-based diplomats organized stalls on the occasion depicting the culture, cuisine and artifacts of their respective countries.The proceeds of the charity bazar will be used for the welfare of the low-income staffers of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.<\/h5>\n
The embassies and high commissions of Palestine, China, Thailand,\u00a0 Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia,Turkiye,\u00a0 Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus,\u00a0 Tunisia, Maldives, Iran, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan, Italy actively participated in the event. They displayed their culture, traditional dresses and cuisine at their stalls attracting large number of visitors.<\/strong><\/h5>\n
Speaking on the occasion, Secretary Ministry of Foreign Affairs Syrus Sajjad Qazi said that the annual charity bazaar featured handicrafts and cuisines from different parts of the world and the proceeds of the bazaar would go to the charitable activities of POFWA.<\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n
He also commended that social welfare endeavors of POFWA. Patron PFOWA Shaista Jillani said that the event was a manifestation of POFWA\u2019s commitment to making a positive difference in society and serving the people in need.<\/h5>\n
President PFOWA Shazza Syrus Qazi, in her remarks, said that POFWA had been endeavouring for the last 70 years to serve the people in need and contributed to the flood victims in Pakistan as well as the people of Gaza and earthquake affectees in Turkiye and Syria.\"\"<\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n
The first lady also congratulated members of PFOWA, the Foreign Service community, the diplomatic corps, and private organizations for their unwavering support and contributions to the success of this event.<\/h5>\n
She appreciated PFOWA for the significant contributions to social welfare, and said that annual charity bazaar served as a testament to their unwavering dedication.<\/h5>\n
Begum Samina Alvi, in her keynote address said that they had started a comprehensive, inclusive and nationwide breast cancer awareness campaign. \u201cOne of the major challenges before us was to convey our message to women living in far-flung areas of the country. Most of the cancer cases in Pakistan were reported in the third or fourth stages, which not only made the treatment painful and expensive but also reduced the chances of survival.\"\"<\/h5>\n
Apart from this, mammography, ultrasound and screening facilities are either lacking in our country or these facilities are very expensive,\u201d she added. Referring to autism, children with disabilities, and the importance of early detection of breast cancer issues, she said that these initiatives hold immense importance, as they had the potential to save many lives.<\/strong>\"\"<\/h5>\n
About progress on public awareness, Begum Alvi said that they had reached out to millions of mobile users across the country with the help of ring-back tone and messages and in this year over 140 million SMS on breast cancer had been sent to mobile users in Pakistan.<\/h5>\n
She said that now the number of cancer cases in the third and fourth stages had decreased in different hospitals in Pakistan, while the reporting of cancer cases in the first and second stages had increased. “Now, mammography, ultrasound, and screening facilities were being provided at subsidized rates in different hospitals across the country and the number of these facilities has also increased, she added.\"\"(First Lady Begam Siman Alvi visited the stall of Palestine Embassy and expressed solidarity with the people of Gaza)<\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n
Similarly, the first lady said they had worked to shatter misconceptions, foster inclusivity, promote inclusive education and rehabilitative services, and ensure equal opportunities for the persons with disabilities (PWDs).<\/h5>\n
\u201cOne of our aims was to bring about behavioural change in society towards them, create sensitivity in our society towards their issues, and make them feel part of the mainstream,\u201d she added.<\/h5>\n