[Reporter’s View] The dark side of flashy health campaigns

The bitter aftertaste left from a glitzy disease awareness campaign

A breast cancer awareness campaign recently hosted by a certain magazine has sparked controversy.

 

While claiming to promote disease awareness, the atmosphere on site told a different story.

 

Amidst the dazzling lights, music, and flowing drinks, the term “breast cancer” was nowhere to be found.

 

This leaves one wondering what meaning the event truly held for patients.

 

Of course, cancer patients don’t have to be solemn at all times.

 

Those fighting illness have every right to laugh and enjoy themselves.

 

Cancer no longer equates solely to a brush with death.

 

Thanks to early diagnosis and advances in new drugs, many patients return to their normal daily lives after treatment.

 

In that sense, bright and uplifting messages are certainly needed.

 

Moving beyond perceptions that emphasize only despair, the very attempt to speak of hope and recovery holds value.

 

However, the problem arises when excessive brightness erases the disease's true nature.

 

While survival rates for major solid cancers, including breast cancer, have significantly improved over the past decade due to the introduction of various new drugs, cancer remains a disease that fundamentally overturns a person's entire life.

 

Patients endure complex treatment regimens involving chemotherapy, targeted therapies, and hormone therapy, suffering various side effects like vomiting, nausea, sleep disturbances, and gastrointestinal issues.

 

In severe cases, serious adverse reactions such as interstitial lung disease or skin-peeling rashes can occur.

 

Yet a casual belief is spreading that “cancer is easily cured these days.” Survival statistics may have improved, but patients’ quality of life and psychological suffering remain heavy burdens.

 

Even after treatment ends, fear of recurrence, anxiety over physical changes, and the challenges of returning to society persist.

 

Some awareness campaigns mirror the rosy social trend.

 

They focus on imagery and commercial appeal rather than patients' realities, treating the disease as an event to be consumed.

 

True awareness isn't about sugar-coating someone’s suffering.

 

It must start with society genuinely seeing the suffering as it is and collectively understanding the fears and anxieties patients endure.

 

What matters is the daily life of the patient who suffers from the illness and the hearts of the family members by their side.

 

Without stepping into those shoes, genuine awareness cannot exist.

 

The term “raising awareness” only gains meaning when patients remain at its core.

 

What is needed more than a glamorous party is listening to the patient's voice.

 

The reason positivity is needed is not to cover despair, but to face reality while holding onto hope.

 

Ignorance about disease begins with indifference.

 

True awareness begins with empathy.

 

And empathy is only possible when it stems from a genuine desire to stand by the patient's side.