Record turnout for ‘Walk for the Cure’ as breast cancer awareness deepens

The Warrens business district was transformed into a sea of pink on Sunday as an estimated 20  000 people took to the streets for the 2025 CIBC Walk for the Cure — one of the largest turnouts in the event’s history and a powerful display of solidarity for breast cancer awareness across Barbados.

Head of CIBC Barbados Kemar Polius, described the scene as “a sight to behold.”

“When they told me that Warrens would be washed in pink and I had to see it for myself, I now fully understand what they really meant,” he said. “I participated in walks in the Cayman Islands and the Bahamas where I was based before coming back home, and believe me, it was nothing like this. Barbados, you should be very proud of what you do every year at this time.”

Polius said Walk for the Cure is “the biggest walk for a cause in the southern Caribbean” and possibly the entire region. He noted that CIBC Caribbean has raised more than US$5 million regionally, including over BDS$1 million in Barbados, for cancer-fighting initiatives through the Breast Screening Programme of the Barbados Cancer Society.

President Dame Sandra Mason along with CIBC manager cut the ribbon and participated in the walk for the first and final time as her term in office comes to an end on November 29.

President Dame Sandra Mason officially opened the event, marking her first appearance at the walk

Medical Coordinator of the Programme Dr Shirley Hanoman-Jhagroo, said the massive turnout reflected how far Barbados has come in raising awareness and reducing stigma.

“Lives have been saved, and everybody in Barbados has been touched by someone who’s had breast cancer,” she said. “Years ago we used to see stage four, and that was all we saw. There was a stigma attached — thank God all that is gone.”

This year’s theme, Turning Awareness into Action, urged Barbadians to go beyond talk and get screened. Hanoman-Jhagroo also revealed that the programme’s new $1 million mammogram machine can screen both women and men more comfortably.

“Men can have mammograms too,” she said. “This machine doesn’t have to squeeze your breast like the other ones — it’s very gentle and it’s not that much compression.”

“We could not have done this alone, of course, without the support of Corporate Barbados, the man on the street — everybody,” Hanoman-Jhagroo added.

Medical Coordinator of the Breast Screening Programme of the Barbados Cancer Society, Dr. Shirley Hanoman-Jhagroo presents a shirt to a last minute supporter