Actress Tamannaah Bhatia on Sunday participated in a walk organised here for breast cancer awareness.

The actress along with Dharini, who fought breast cancer affecting both breasts at a young age of 24, flagged off the run in which about 3,000 people from various walks of life participated.

The ninth edition of the 2K Pink Ribbon Walk was organised by Ushalakshmi Breast Cancer Foundation (UBF) and KIMS-Ushalakshmi Centre for Breast Diseases with the slogan ‘Does your heart beat for early detection of breast cancer’.

Breast cancer ‘conquerors’ and their families in addition to large number of students from old city participated in the run, expressing solidarity with the Pink Ribbon campaign.

The walk was aimed at creating awareness about importance of early detection of breast cancer, salute survivors, and spread the message of hope, courage and survival in the fight against the disease.

KIMS chairman B. Krishnaiah, KIMS MD and CEO B. Bhaskar Rao, UBF CEO and KIMS-Ushalakshmi director P. Raghu Ramm UBF founder chairperson Ushalakshmi and other eminent citizens participated in the walk.

UBF and KIMS-Ushalakshmi Centre for Breast Diseases, which completed 10 years, has undertaken many unique initiatives to empower people about importance of early detection of breast cancer.

In India, over 150,000 women are newly diagnosed with breast cancer every year; a staggering number that has overtaken cervical cancer to become the most common cancer affecting women.

Contrary to the western world where breast cancer is common after the age of 50 years, the highest incidence of breast cancer in India is between the ages of 40 and 50 years, said Raghu Ram.

More than 70, 000 women succumb to breast cancer every year – a woman dies of breast cancer every 10 minutes in India. Ram said that more than 60 per cent of breast cancers in India present in the advanced stages and hence death rate from breast cancer is also very high.

Lack of awareness and absence of an organized national breast cancer screening programme are the main reasons accounting for late presentation.