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10KSA is the Saudi Initiative Hoping to Change How We Talk About Early Cancer Detection

BYMille Team

November 17, 2025

Most of us grew up thinking pink is the universal color of cancer. Pink ribbons on T-shirts, pink logos during October, pink everything. But pink only stands for one cancer. The color that actually represents all cancers—every type, every patient, every family—is lavender. And that gap between what we think we know and what’s true is exactly why an initiative like 10KSA, launched in 2015 by Princess Reema bint Bandar Al Saud, feels so necessary right now.

This year, 10KSA is inviting the entire country—and really anyone anywhere—to turn December 8 into a lavender moment. Not through a single massive event, but through small, personal acts like forming a Lavender Ribbon at home, at work, at school, or anywhere you happen to be that day. The idea is intentionally flexible. You can gather friends or colleagues in lavender shirts, create a digital ribbon on your laptop, arrange lavender-colored objects on your desk, paint one with your kids, before sharing it and tagging @10KSA2025.

Cancer rates across the region have been rising for years, with experts predicting nearly double the cases in the Arab world by 2030. A lot of that comes down to late detection—people putting off screenings, assuming symptoms will disappear, or avoiding medical checks altogether out of fear, shame, or cultural hesitation. Awareness spikes here and there, but it doesn’t always translate into action. 10KSA wants to change that by reframing health as an everyday responsibility rather than something we only think about when someone we know gets sick.

This isn’t the initiative’s first chapter. Back in 2010, thousands of women in Jeddah came together to form a Guinness World Record ribbon to push for more breast cancer screenings. Five years later in Riyadh, almost 9,000 women gathered again. This year, instead of one big crowd, the campaign is diffused across workplaces, living rooms, classrooms, and digital spaces. It makes participating easier, more personal, and more meaningful. If a company with 100 employees gets everyone to schedule a check-up and each of them convinces just one family member to do the same, you’ve doubled the impact instantly. Scale that across partners, clients, communities, and the ripple becomes huge.

On December 8, the Kingdom will be dotted with Lavender Ribbons in classrooms, offices, parks, and social feeds. Some big, some tiny, some digital, some handmade. All of them saying the same thing: Together for health.

10KSA is the Saudi Initiative Hoping to Change How We Talk About Early Cancer Detection

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10KSA is the Saudi Initiative Hoping to Change How We Talk About Early Cancer Detection

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