Mission PinkCruise is the name given to the community-based health outreaches carried out using the Mobile Cancer Centres or MCC (aka the PinkCruise). It is an initiative of mass medical mission (mmm), aimed at taking wholistic cancer prevention and health promotion to the grassroots. The Mobile Cancer Centre is also known as the PinkCruise. The slogan for the PinkCruise campaign is “Taking Wellness To All!”
The PinkCruise is the first of its kind and is much more than a Mobile Mammogram. Rather, it is a multi-functional clinic on wheels with state-of-the-art facilities for screening, follow-up and treatment (including mammography, endoscopy, colposcopy, cryotherapy, laboratory services, vaccination and surgeries for pre-cancerous lesions).
The PinkCruise (and Comprehensive Cancer Centres or CCC, to be established thereafter) will help to potentially raise Nigeria’s life expectancy, which is currently the seventh lowest globally. Cancer and its related diseases are mainly responsible for this low life expectancy.
According to WHO, Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) are now responsible for 70% of global deaths each year, with cancer being a leading cause of death and the single most important barrier to increasing life expectancy in every country of the world in the 21stcentury.
Mission PinkCruise and the future CCCs will also stimulate reverse health tourism into Nigeria, create massive youth employment, support transfer of technology and increase the foreign reserve.
In addition, the availability of the PinkCruise in every state of Nigeria and FCT Abuja would enhance community cohesion, reduce non-inclusion and help to ameliorate the perception of social injustice which creates the condition needed for militancy to thrive.
To increase the impact of the PinkCruise, other mobile health units have also been deployed. These include the PinkVISSION (mobile eye unit; where “VISSION” stands for Voluntary Integrated Sight Saving Initiative of Nigeria) and the PinkDentist (mobile dental unit).
Mission PinkCruise kicked off with a series of inaugural Missions PinkCruise in the South-South geopolitical zone, Lagos State and in FCT Abuja. The inaugural Mission PinkCruise in Lagos State started on World Cancer Day, February 4, 2018 followed by the formal handover and commissioning of the PinkCruise by the Executive Governor of Lagos State, on Wednesday, February 14, 2018.
The pilot phase of the systematic state-wide Mission PinkCruise is currently ongoing in Lagos State following a year-round schedule that commenced in April 2018.
This ongoing free community – based mass health campaign, is targeted mainly at the under-privileged masses. Groups interested in hosting the Mission PinkCruise can apply by sending an email to info@pinkcruise.org.
OUR BRAND
The major colour of PinkCruise is “Pink”. However, there are other supplementary colours of the PinkCruise brand which forms “Spectral Colours”.
SYMBOLIC MEANING OF THE PINKCRUISE COLOURS
PINK: The colour pink is not only used in relation to breast cancer, but also connotes health in general; hence the phrase ‘in the pink of health.’ Reference may be made to the healthily glowing pink cheeks of new-born babies or energetic sportsmen/sportswomen and the like.
In this regard, we may note that Nigeria has the 7th lowest life expectancy in the world. The major reasons for this low life expectancy are stress and lack of health maintenance, coupled with poor infrastructure.
mass medical mission aims to address the poor health maintenance culture of Nigerians by taking preventive health care to the doorsteps of all, on a cruise with the PinkCruise.
SPECTRAL COLOURS: The multiple (spectral colours) at the base of the PinkCruise represent the following:
1. The colour of the awareness ribbon of all the common preventable cancers which are the focus of the campaign.
2. The colour of the awareness ribbon of the major killer diseases which are cancer risk factors; these are also targeted by the campaign
3. The brand colours of all our sponsors/donors
4. The lavender color which forms the base of the colour spectrum is the colour for cancers in general
IMAGE OF THE FAMILY: The image of a family on the PinkCruise illustrates the fact that nobody will be left out. The campaign covers both genders and all age-groups.
IMAGE OF THE MEDICAL DOCTORS: The smiling and forward-looking image of a male or female doctor denotes the warm welcome awaiting the users of the PinkCruise.