October 1, 2009



The National Assembly’s Speaker Tsetska Tsacheva gave a formal start on October 1, 2009 of a symbolic bicycle march to mark the beginning of this year's campaign to combat breast cancer.

October 1, marks the first day of the International Month against the disease. The National Assembly Chairwoman welcomed the participants in the initiative, organized by the Association of Cancer Patients and Friends and the Association named "Veloevolyutsiya”/ “Evolution through biking”/. It included women that have had breast cancer, doctors, partners and friends of the association.

“I am among you today to express my wholehearted support and commitment to our common efforts to combat cancer diseases”, the President of the National Assembly Tsetska Tsacheva told the audience. She reassured them that this cause was having the support of all the lawmakers in the 41st National Assembly.

I am convinced that the path to good results is passing through the active interaction between state institutions and civil society, stressed Tsetska Tsacheva. According to her, the initiative held today is proof of a well-developed civil society.

The Assembly President recalled the unanimously adopted by the 40th National Assembly Declaration on the containment and control of oncological diseases in Bulgaria. She noted that the 41st National Assembly MPs share the will recorded in this document, and will do everything to implement it.

Tsetska Tsacheva stressed that the drafting and adoption of the National Program to Fight Cancer is among the priorities of Bulgaria. This primarily means the provision of sufficient funds for early diagnosis and treatment to overcome the disease, she added.
The Association of Cancer Patients and Friends' President Eugenia Adarska thanked the Chairwoman of the National Assembly for her empathy towards the women suffering from cancer, and declared that the organization will continue its active partnership with the legislative institution. She stressed that the data of the National Cancer Registry shows increasing numbers of breast cancer patients, detected in the first stage of the disease. This means that women in Bulgaria are more aware of the problem and are much more proactive, said Evgenia Adarska.

At the start of the initiative, the chair of parliament said that she joins the campaign to combat breast cancer with all her heart. She greeted the women in the event, who had won the struggle with the insidious disease, and noted that the initiative shows yet again how strong is the will of the Bulgarian woman.

Students of Sofia Music School “Lubomir Pipkov” joined the campaign.