Think Pink Europe breast cancer organization launched Wednesday, Mihaela Geoana to serve as president

Five breast cancer NGOs from Belgium, Italy, Greece, Romania and Bosnia and Herzegovina launched on Wednesday at the European Parliament the Think Pink Europe organization, with Mihaela Geoana appointed president of this NGO that will interconnect and take their efforts international, the Renaissance Foundation said in a release.

"Mihaela Geoana's appointment as president of Think Pink Europe represents an important international recognition of the efforts made in Romania by the Renaissance Foundation and the Women's Health Coalition she is the initiator of, and of the subsequent advance made in Romania in recent years in the fight against breast cancer," the release reads.

Mihaela Geoana remarks that although "Europe has made significant progress on so many levels, looking at health care, the disparities remain too big. In certain European countries, women who are affected by breast cancer have 20 percent less chances of survival; meaning that in 2018, women live or die depending on where they live. Think Pink Europe needs to promote exchanging best care practices faster and to pull its weight to change this unacceptable situation," Geoana is cited in the release as saying.

Professor Riccardo Masetti (Director of the Breast Oncology Clinic of the Rome Gemelli Hospital) and Nela Hasic (Bosnia and Herzegovina) will act as co-chairs of the organization, and Professor Alberto Costa (Director of the European School of Oncology) will serve as ambassador. Christiana Mitsi (Greece) completes the organization's board of directors.

The five founding organizations have been working together for many years, and have been organizing the Races for the Cure, the world's largest sports event in the fight against breast cancer.

"The time has come to deepen the collaboration by establishing a new organisation: Think Pink Europe. We are proud to be presenting this collaboration in the European Parliament. Collaboration is part of our DNA. By taking this step, we are focusing more than ever on cross-border collaboration," said Jurgen Vanpraet, who will act as Think Pink Europe managing director.

According to the quoted source, a first joint project that Think Pink Europe members have been preparing for some time is organizing all the European races for the Cure on the same day. This way, Think Pink Europe wishes to unite over 500,000 people in the fight against breast cancer and sports sympathizers at European level in the future, as a symbol of solidarity in the fight against breast cancer, the release concludes.AGERPRES(RO - author: Petronius Craiu, editor: Andreea Rotaru; EN - author: Simona Klodnischi, editor: Maria Voican)