Awareness about cancer screening was raised at the In The Pink Party on Thursday with a terminal patient and a longevity doctor inspiring guests at the Times of Malta event.

Held at OKA’s at The Villa in Balluta, the talk was organised by Pink in collaboration with the Xara Collection, and aimed also at raising funds for the MCCF on the occasion of Pink October.

On the panel was Janette Marsh, who has ovarian cancer, but found the stamina and strength to talk about her experience and share her wise words – with more than a touch of humour – about screening.

“Knowledge is power,” she stressed to an engrossed audience, who hung on to every word. They heard how almost a year had gone by from symptoms to diagnosis and how “early diagnosis can and does save lives”.

OKA’s at The Villa in Balluta.

Guests enjoying the evening.

From left: Yvonne Desira Buttigieg, Marika Caruana Smith and Kim Darmanin Demajo.

Janette Marsh talking about her experience.

Kopparberg and The London Essence, two of the event sponsors.

In The Pink Party at OKA’s at The Villa in Balluta.

Longevity medicine specialist Dr Philip Borg.

Marsh spent 40 years living in Zambia, South Africa and Vietnam, working as a senior executive with luxury brands before moving to Malta in 2015. Four years later, she was diagnosed with stage IV ovarian cancer, was told it was incurable and was given a five-year prognosis. She underwent gruelling treatment and now takes daily – and unaffordable – drugs, provided by the Malta Community Chest Fund.

She has been raising awareness of symptoms, urging people to do regular screening and give something back to the MCCF.

Marsh has since also produced the art book, Stories of Home, a photographic journey of life with cancer, proceeds of which also go towards the MCCF, and which she distributed as a gift to all guests at the Pink event in appreciation of their donations.

The panel was also addressed by Dr Philip Borg, a consultant cancer interventional and diagnostic radiologist from Manchester’s Christie Hospital, as well as a longevity medicine specialist.

Borg is currently pioneering longevity medicine in both the UK and Malta, in the firm belief that people can live longer and better if they screened for diseases before any symptoms were felt and adopted healthy lifestyle choices.

Borg intrigued guests with his talk about preventive medicine and lifestyle patterns that could be adopted to decrease the risk of developing chronic diseases of ageing.

From left: Claire Mercieca, MCCF, Veronica Grech Sant and Fiona Galea Debono from Pink and Times of Malta, and Claire Micallef Pule’, MCCF.

The In the Pink Party continued outdoors on OKA’s terrace, where guests continued to socialise and network.

They were also treated to a raffle with an array of prizes, ranging from a Samsung portable projector to an iPhone 14 from GO, €250 vouchers from Sicilia Outlet Village, luxury perfumes from Scentoniq, a lamp from Kave Home at Form, a handbag from Porto and a bouquet from Alistair Floral Design, and left carrying their own goodie bags, stuffed to the brim.

Adela Cachia and Adriana Warrington

The event was supported by  A.M.Mangion Ltd, APS Bank, Bigbon Group, Brand Sketch, Browns, Charles Grech, GasanMamo Insurance, Form, Kopparberg, OKA’s, Scentoniq, Sound Machine and Samsung and The London Essence.