Breast cancer drives yield results

A reader says campaign is an useful tool to fight breast cancer. Other letter topics: nursing, fake watches, BlackBerry, India

A reader says campaigns such as this one, held at Zayed Sports City in Abu Dhabi on Friday, are necessary to generate awareness among women about the importance of regular screening. Satish Kumar / The National
Powered by automated translation

I refer to the article Walking to make UAE public aware of breast cancer (October 9).

Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer among women. Yet, not enough cases are detected in the early stages and the longer a cancer goes undetected the harder it is for doctors to tackle it and for patients to survive. That’s why initiatives like this are vital to educate women and their family members about the importance of regular screenings.

Breast Cancer Research Foundation has raised more than $450 million (Dh1,653 million) in the last 20 years to advance the promising breast cancer research to achieve prevention and a cure in our lifetime.

The “Pink Pack” programme has raised more than $2.5 million to fund breast cancer research grants.

Farza, Abu Dhabi

Beware of fake watches

I am writing about the article Investors warned to be on guard against fake luxury watches (October 6).

Dubious businesses often target rich countries. The reason is that profit margins are high and it is sometimes easier to extract money from the rich than from middle-class people who generally spend cautiously.

Fake watches being sold in the UAE is nothing new. So investors planning to spend tens of thousands of dirhams on vintage and luxury watches should be cautious.

This business is going on for a long time. If you visit the souq in Deira, you will meet sellers of fake watches. They will come to you and whisper in your ears the names of big brands such as Rolex and Rado.

Those people generally target tourists. They sometimes take them to their secret locations where they store their goods.

I heard that many of those who cannot afford to buy original brands take watches from them. They are the ones who keep their businesses alive.

Name withheld by request

Blasts underscore Bihar’s failure

The bomb blasts that killed five people at a political rally in the northern Indian state of Bihar marks a dramatic development in Indian politics ahead of next year's election (Bombings kill five at Indian opposition rally, October 27).

It’s sad that the Bihar government could not provide adequate safety and security for the people, even though it’s the duty of a state to ensure safety of the public during any political rally.

K Ragavan, India

Nursing is about caring

I refer to to the news item Concerns over lack of Emirati nurses (October 28).

The report says that Abu Dhabi Medical Congress recently heard that only 3 per cent of nurses are Emiratis, and action was needed to change outdated attitudes if that figure is to rise. A serious effort is needed to make the nursing profession more appealing to Emiratis.

There is nothing wrong in it per se. However, one wonders if the two words “glamour” and “nursing” can go together. While glamour refers to groomed beauty and studied charm, nursing is all about taking care of the sick, feeble and injured.

It is interesting to note that Indian nurses, especially those from Kerala, are found the world over mainly because of their ability to embrace the profession as their religion to serve the ill, which is the essence of nursing.

CS Pathak, India Bleak future for BlackBerry

Can BlackBerry survive? (BlackBerry’s once bountiful fortune at risk of shrivelling up, October 26). I don’t think it can, because it has allowed Samsung and Android to rule the mobile world. The problem is that it can’t compete with Android in free applications.

Liamn Kelsey Mantawid, Dubai