ISLAMABAD: The Higher Education Commission (HEC) and Pink Ribbon Friday held the 3rd Annual Youth Awards ceremony to announce the award winners under the ‘PINKtober Youth Awareness Programme 2017’. The awards for PINKtober Youth Awareness Programme are a sign of recognition to all the universities which have shown best performance in creating awareness about the hazards of breast cancer. Shaheen Khan, Adviser Learning Innovation (LI) Division at HEC, was the chief guest at the ceremony. Fida Hussain, Director General LI, Omer Aftab, CEO of Pink Ribbon, and other notables attended the event. Fatima Jinnah Dental College Karachi secured the first position in the category of universities, followed by Kinnaird College for Women University Lahore and the University of Lahore at 2nd and 3rd positions respectively. Government Postgraduate College for Women, Satellite Town, Rawalpindi secured first position, while College for Women DG Khan clinched second position and Government Postgraduate College for Women, Shad Bagh, got third position in the category of colleges. In his message on this occasion, Dr Arshad Ali said HEC hoped that this programme would keep benefiting the society by saving thousands of lives. He said that HEC would continue to serve as a bridge between Pink Ribbon and higher education institutions to increase awareness about breast cancer among the youth of the country. Addressing the ceremony, Shaheen Khan admired the efforts of HEC and Pink Ribbon for creating awareness among the youth of Pakistan. She urged women to never ignore breast cancer symptoms and approach healthcare facilities as soon as possible. She said the HEC-Pink Ribbon efforts had helped sensitise the masses about the significance of early diagnosis of the disease. In his opening remarks earlier, Omer Aftab appreciated the support of HEC in reaching out to hundreds of universities across the country to create awareness about breast cancer. “The incidence of breast cancer is increasing in young girls of Pakistan and awareness is the only key to survival,” he asserted, adding, “We need to prepare our generation to be health- conscious so they can have a better future.” Published in Daily Times, May 12th 2018.