Hair loss is one of the most traumatic experience a breast cancer patient goes through. To bring a smile to the faces of those undergoing cancer treatments, Dabur Amla, the leading hair oil brand in the GCC, has joined hands with the UAE-based non-profit, Friends Of Cancer Patients (FOCP) and Tips & Toes Salon & Spa to launch an awareness initiative for hair donation.
The campaign ‘Strong Hair Stronger You’ aims to encourage UAE residents to donate their hair for this noble cause, and seeks to educate community members on the various challenges cancer patients have to go through in their treatment journey, including loss of hair.
Marking the International Breast Cancer Awareness month in October, hair collected until the end of October will be used to create prosthetics for breast cancer patients. The initiative will then continue till December 15, 2020, to reach out to more patients suffering from different types of cancer.
According to Krishan Kumar Chutani, CEO Dabur International: “We are humbled to join hands with FOCP and Tips & Toes as part of this campaign. The campaign celebrates the inner strength and beauty of all women who keep fighting and emerge as winners against all odds. We are privileged to make a difference in their lives, though small, by enabling them to have their hair back. We strongly urge wider participation from the community to donate hair through our valuable partner for this campaign, “Tips & Toes” across UAE.”
Those interested in offering support will be able to donate their hair across 23 participating Tips & Toes outlets in the country, starting October 01, 2020. The donations will be used to produce high quality hair prosthetics, which will be distributed to cancer patients free of charge.
Encouraging the UAE community to come forward and support the initiative, Dr. Sawsan Al Madhi, Director General of FOCP and Head of the Pink Caravan Medical and Awareness Committee, noted: “For individuals who have lost their hair partially or completely as a consequence of chemotherapy, being able to see themselves with hair on their head again, fills them with hope and confidence. Through FOCP’s Locks of Hope initiative which has the same goal, we have seen that this positivity boost does wonders for the patients’ psychological wellbeing, ultimately fuelling their fight against cancer. As our Emirati values have taught us, there is nothing more noble than helping a person in need. We have the power to change people’s lives for the better; by exercising it we make ourselves and others happy. We thank our collaborators Dabur Amla and Tips & Toes for leveraging their community outreach for this extremely thoughtful initiative.”
“Just a couple of things to remember while making the donations is that the donor’s hair should be clean, dry and healthy, and be at least 30 cm long. This is because some hair is lost during the manufacturing of the wigs. We also accept coloured or dyed hair, as long as the dye is of a natural colour,” she added.
Donors can plait their hair and cut it off themselves, insert it into a sealed plastic bag and drop it in the donation box at participating Tips & Toes branches, or avail a free hair cut at the salon.
Tips & Toes said: “Being a local brand, able to support the local community, we are privileged to join hands with Dabur Amla and FOCP for this noble cause in support of the excellent initiative to help cancer patients. We have placed dedicated hair collection boxes in our 23 locations across the UAE where you can donate hair. You can also get a free haircut and 30% discount on hair color services when donating hair for this noble cause.”
To start with, donor should register daburamla A certificate of appreciation will also be handed over to the registered participants who donate their hair.