Uniting our voices and taking action' was the theme for Papua New Guinea Cancer Foundation’s Corporate Gala Networking Event held at the Royal Papua Yacht Club in Port Moresby on Saturday evening. This is the second year that the cancer foundation has put together to show its commitment towards creating and improving its awareness activities throughout the country. Speaking at the event was Executive Manager of Papua New Guinea Cancer Foundation Inc, Priscilla Napoleon, who highlighted and made mention of challenges they face when trying to break barriers in order to carry out their awareness programs effectively. She stated that as part of their commitment, it is important to understand and realize how cancer can be identified and how it can be addressed and dealt with. “In carrying out awareness campaigns, we must understand, have an open-mind, change mindsets and challenge the assumptions of cultural barriers that can prevent us from carrying out our programs in and around the country.” The Cancer Foundation has been carrying out awareness activities such as outreach programs in schools and communities, to better inform people about the aspects of cancer and how it can be dealt with at an early stage. Therefore, all funds raised for this year’s second event will go towards supporting the foundation’s mission of improving the coordination of cancer awareness activities in Papua New Guinea. According to Napoleon, over K70, 000 was raised on the night through the purchasing of tickets and support from sponsors. She added that the foundation has over sixty stakeholders who have been supporting them in carrying out their awareness programs. Healthy Teens School Program, Community Outreach and prevention Education Program and Cervical Cancer School Program are some of the programs that the foundation has been carrying out in their awareness activities and are hopeful that they reach more areas throughout the country. Meanwhile, Oncology-Pediatrician for Port Moresby General Hospital, Dr. Gwenda Anga, also spoke on the matters surrounding cancer especially for children living with cancer. Dr. Gwenda shared with PNGHAUSBUNG that the average number of cancer patients is sixty per year. However, at the beginning of the year, they have already reached sixty patients and have seen an increase in children cases for this year alone. “One biggest factor about treating the children is that most of them present late and so by the time we treat them, they already have other underlying issues such as malnutrition or are already very sick or are short of blood. These are the things that make it difficult for us to treat them quickly, especially for those who come from other provinces and are trying to get treatment at POM GEN.” A main hurdle that Dr. Gwenda stated was getting the right diagnosis on time. Another is the difficulty of having a consistent supply of chemotherapy for supportive care and this is something that is greatly needed when treating cancer. Most cancers curable, but when there is not enough medical supplies provided, it can lead to the delay of treatment and growth of one’s cancer. “We do offer treatment for certain cancers that we can support in our country and those are the most common cancers we see in children, as long as they come early and when we have consistent supply of drugs, then it is easy to treat the patient." The most common cancers for women is cervical cancer, whilst for both men and women its mouth cancer and in Children is leukemia. Apart from this, the foundation thanked all existing partners for their continuous support, not only for the night but for supporting the foundation’s different awareness activities. Its partners include Ela Motors PNG, FinCorp PNG, The WeighInn Hotel, BSP Life, Digicel PNG, the Government House, Royal Papua Yacht Club, Paradise Private Hospital, Moore Printing and many more.