Why I’ll wear black, not pink, for Breast Cancer Awareness Month

In October, I will wear black in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, not to express despair, but as a reflection on the preventable suffering that has become normalized in our healthcare system. Dr Liana Roodt, a breast and endocrine surgeon and founder of Project Flamingo, argues that we have lost our capacity to be outraged by the failures in our healthcare system.

Every year, South Africans are asked to wear pink, celebrate survivors, and walk for awareness, but this year, she chooses to wear black to mourn the preventable suffering that has become the norm. Dr Roodt highlights the daily failures she sees, such as women waiting months for biopsies, hospitals operating without functioning equipment, and patients with curable cancer becoming palliative while waiting for treatment.

These issues have been documented through reports and investigations, yet tolerance remains. The problem is not just clinical, but political, as societies that fail to protect their citizens before illness strikes should not be surprised when they struggle to care for them afterwards. The question is why we tolerate these failures and whether we will only understand when the patient is us or someone we love.