Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Gibraltar Charitable Trust was founded in February 2018 with a total focus on raising awareness about pancreatic cancer to the public, general practitioners, and other medical professionals in Gibraltar, as well as, supporting survivors and those fighting the disease.

The organization set out to create an ongoing campaign and projects in raising awareness. In all their campaigns, events, and projects, they always directly involve members of management of the Gibraltar Health Authority (GHA), medical professionals, survivors and their families, and members of other local cancer charities.

The founder of the charity, Louis Baldachino, an 8-year pancreatic cancer survivor, says he is immensely proud of the vital impact the charity has made to the local community and to GHA’s medical professionals. Louis founded the charity shortly after he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer while he was still under treatment:

“I was diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer in July 2015 and I know how lucky I am to still be here and fighting. I wanted and needed to inspire others and one way of doing this was to create a charity. I felt that the only right thing to do was to try and promote awareness to the general public, GPs and medical institutes in Gibraltar, especially as there were and are no other pancreatic cancer charities in Gibraltar.”

Upcoming events for the remainder of the year include:

• Ongoing scheduled discussions with the GHA management team throughout the remaining of 2023, focusing on early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer.
• As part of their campaign and many other events held during Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month in November, the week leading up to WPCD will see a special “Purple Light” event, featuring the iconic castle fortress in the upper Rock of Gibraltar, lit up in purple. The event will be attended by GHA’s management, survivors and their families, and representatives from other charities.
• On WPCD, they will promote a “Purple Day,” encouraging people across the community to wear purple, including shops, large corporate firms, pharmacies, schools, and restaurants.

The Charity is looking forward to working with the WPCC this year and making WPCD 2023 another successful awareness campaign. The Charity says that being a member of the WPCC is important, and it makes them proud to be working together with all the other organizations around the world. It immensely motivates them to continue their campaign in raising awareness about this horrible disease.

To learn more about Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Gibraltar Charitable Trust, visit their member page.