Pride and prejudice

Datin Azrene Abdullah is determined to carry on Datin Paduka Seri Endon Mahmood’s work to eradicate prejudices and increase awareness of breast cancer, writes INTAN MAIZURA AHMAD KAMAL

DATIN Azrene Abdullah, chairman of Pride Foundation, is the daughter-in-law of the late Datin Paduka Seri Endon Mahmood. “She taught me that, in the end, the testimony of your life lies in the lives you touch,” says Azrene.

Like Endon, Azrene has made it her calling to strive for breast cancer awareness through Pride Foundation, a charity body that aims to increase awareness efforts and improve accessibility to treatment and care for breast cancer patients at all levels of society.

It was nominated by Avon Malaysia to be the beneficiary of its global Avon Walk Around The World For Breast Cancer event held recently.

Recalling how it all started, she says: “It would have been a far nobler statement to say that I started Pride in 2005 because I believed that early detection of breast cancer saves lives, but the truth is that I started it solely because she (Endon) asked me to. And however close we were, I hadn’t got to the stage where I could respond to any of her requests with ‘why?’ or ‘why me?’ or ‘no’.”

Till then, Azrene had consciously stayed away from the limelight. “I had my hands full with my children and didn’t feel that I could find enough time in a day for much else,” she confesses.

But find it she did. “I guess it’s true what they say — that if you take on something for the right reasons, you’ll somehow find the time, the energy and the sustaining power to see it through. I was lucky that, along with everything else, I found passion in the work and genuine friendships.”

Speaking glowingly about her late mother-in-law, Azrene says: “Endon made it OK to be open and say, ‘I have breast cancer’. It was a big step for Malaysian women because culturally, we tend to be very private.

“Cancer is an emotional disease and when it’s breast cancer, women find themselves having to deal with core femininity issues. For most women, breasts define the essence of their femininity. And there’s always fear when you risk losing what is at your core.”

This, suffice to say, relates to the much bigger problem of why breast cancer is often detected at very late stages.

“The denial has to stop,” says Azrene. “Breast cancer must be dealt with like you would any other life-threatening illness. You must seek immediate medical attention.”

Continuing, she adds: “We’re trying to advocate that when addressing issues of breast cancer treatment, it shouldn’t just cover radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Breast restoration must be seen as part of a necessary and crucial treatment. Once treatment for breast cancer is made to cover this, it’ll go a long way towards eroding the fear that exists among so many women. Once they stop associating breast cancer with the prospect of losing a breast, maybe they’ll come and seek treatment earlier.”

Pride started its nationwide road show in April. It was when it reached States like Perak, Johor, Penang, and Pahang that it realised that help was really needed here as far as awareness was concerned.

“In the rural areas, there’s little or sometimes no awareness and so our work needs to start at a more basic level,” says Azrene. “We begin with teaching the benefits of breast self examination, urging them to seek conventional medical care and not to resort to alternative medicine without doctor’s clearance.”

The problems in the urban areas, she adds, are slightly different. “People are more than equipped with information but they’re not applying it. That’s the part Pride has to work on. Our programmes are inclusive of everyone – from urban to suburban.”

Hers is not an easy job. There are many challenges that she and her team have to face and, she confesses, a lot of things can get her down.

“I’m often most hurt by unjustified criticism by people who don’t know about Pride and what we do,” she says. “I just keep telling myself and my team that we’ve a job to do and that our work will soon speak for itself. We’re often touched when we hear our survivors speaking about us to the media and we happen to read the comments by chance. We know then that we’re making a real difference and that’s all that matters.”

Through her trying times, Azrene’s pillars of strength are her family – her dear mother, husband and four children. “And of course, where would I be without my sisterhood network at Pride and the very reasons for our existence – the spirited survivors!”

Azrene, who cites children’s welfare and education as the other causes close to her heart, is driven to continue Endon’s legacy. “Pride must be sustained beyond my lifetime. I’m just here to make sure we have the right infrastructure to see this through since it was her (Endon) vision that no Malaysian women should die of breast cancer through late detection or lack of care,” she says, with conviction.