Breast Cancer Awareness Month 2026: Bulkstream's Pink Thursday

This October, Bulkstream marked Breast Cancer Awareness Month with Pink Thursday, a day for our team to show support and raise awareness of why early detection matters. In Kenya, breast cancer is the most common cancer.

Our team in pink

Our Pink Thursday initiative brought our team together in a show of solidarity, with our ladies proudly wearing pink and our gentlemen joining the cause. Colleagues pinned on pink ribbons and gathered for team photos.

Why Breast Cancer Awareness Month matters in Kenya

Breast Cancer Awareness Month runs from 1 to 31 October. The World Health Organization (WHO) uses it to raise awareness and to call for better access to timely diagnosis and quality care, and its theme for 2026 is “Every story is unique, every journey matters”.

Kenya had an estimated 5,822 new breast cancer cases in 2024, more than any other type of cancer, according to GLOBOCAN 2024 estimates from the International Agency for Research on Cancer. That is 26.5% of all new cancers in women. Breast cancer is also the country’s leading cause of cancer death, with an estimated 2,882 deaths.

Worldwide, about 2.4 million women were diagnosed with breast cancer in 2024 and 694,000 died (WHO breast cancer fact sheet). Around 80% of cases occur in women with no specific risk factor apart from their sex and age, and most women who are diagnosed have no known family history of the disease.

In July 2026, WHO published its first global estimates of five-year breast cancer survival, for women diagnosed between 2017 and 2021. Survival ranged from 39.1% in the WHO African Region, which includes Kenya, to 88.5% in the Region of the Americas, and the stage at which the cancer was found was a key predictor of long-term survival. In Kenya, a study cited in the Ministry of Health guidelines found that 50.7% of patients were diagnosed at stage III or IV, when the cancer is already advanced.

Signs to look out for

WHO lists these possible signs of breast cancer:

• a breast lump or thickening, often without pain
• a change in the size, shape or appearance of the breast
• dimpling, redness, pitting or other changes in the skin
• a change in the appearance of the nipple or the skin around it (areola)
• abnormal or bloody fluid from the nipple

Most breast lumps are not cancer, but WHO advises that an abnormal lump should still be checked by a health worker, even if it does not hurt, since finding and treating breast cancer early saves lives.

A note for our gentlemen: men can get breast cancer too. According to WHO, they account for about 0.5% to 1% of cases, and Kenya’s guidelines recommend breast awareness for men rather than routine screening.

When should screening start?

Because breast cancer in Kenya starts to peak at age 40, the Ministry of Health’s National Cancer Screening and Early Diagnosis Guidelines (2024) start checks from age 25. They recommend a risk-based early detection programme built around clinical breast examination (CBE). For women at average risk, the schedule is:

• Ages 25 to 34: CBE every three years
• Ages 35 to 39: CBE and ultrasound every two years
• Ages 40 to 55: CBE and a mammogram every year
• Ages 56 to 74: CBE and a mammogram every two years
• Age 75 and above: decide with a healthcare provider, based on your health and preferences

Women at higher risk need closer screening, and for any woman a clinician may adjust how often she is checked. The guidelines do not recommend breast self-examination as a screening method, but they do encourage women to know what is normal for their breasts and to report any change to a health worker.

Health and wellbeing at Bulkstream

At Bulkstream, we believe a safe and healthy workplace is about more than physical safety. It also means promoting awareness, wellbeing and a culture where people feel supported.

Pink Thursday is one of the ways we look after the more than 1,000 people who work for Bulkstream across East Africa. It sits alongside the rest of our health and safety work, from HSE Week 2025 to Work at Height and Rescue at Height training for over 500 employees, and we are certified to ISO 45001:2018 for occupational health and safety management. Outside our own sites, we were principal sponsor of the renovation of the front entrance at Coast General Teaching and Referral Hospital.

Thank you to our management team and to every colleague who wore pink or supported the day.

If you notice any change in your breasts, or want to know which checks are right for you, speak to a healthcare provider or visit your nearest health facility. This is general information, not medical advice.

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