First Lady Laura Bush Travels to Middle East to Raise Awareness on Breast Cancer

Mrs. Laura Bush talks with Huda Abdulkareem, M.D., Head of the Hematology/Oncology Unit at King Khalid University Hospital, at the Abdullatif Charitable Cancer Center, on Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2007, in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. (White House photo by Shealah Craighead.)

October 23, 2007 – First Lady Laura Bush traveled to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia today to raise awareness on the importance of preventing and treating breast cancer. In Riyadh, she visited the Abdullatif Charitable Cancer Center, and participated in the launch of the United States-Saudi Arabia Partnership for Breast Cancer Awareness and Research.

In remarks after a tour of the Center, Mrs. Bush called it “a great model for other parts of Saudi Arabia.”

“Breast cancer presents at a younger age in the Middle East than it does in America,” Mrs. Bush said, and emphasized the importance of the prevention programs, which provide screening for breast cancer, cervical cancer and colon cancer.

Mrs. Bush spoke on the United States-Middle East Partnership for Breast Cancer Awareness and Research at the Sheikh Khalifa Medical Center in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Monday.

For more information:

• Mrs. Bush's Remarks to the Press After a Tour, Adbullatif Cancer Screening Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (White House)
• Mrs. Bush's Remarks on the U.S.-Saudi Arabia Partnership on Breast Cancer Awareness, King Fahd Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (White House)
• First Lady’s website (White House)

Last revised: October 25, 2007