Playa del Carmen Mayor Lights Municipal Palace Pink to Promote Breast Cancer Prevention

Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo — Mayor Estefanía Mercado lit the Municipal Palace in pink on Tuesday as part of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, renewing her call for women to take advantage of the detection and screening services available throughout October.

Flanked by her husband, Eduardo Nájera, municipal officials, representatives of the DIF family services agency and breast cancer survivors, Mercado said Playa del Carmen is joining a statewide strategy being rolled out simultaneously across Quintana Roo’s municipalities to strengthen a culture of prevention and early detection.

The mayor said the campaign aims to establish prevention as a fundamental life-saving tool, and she praised the women who have faced the disease and now serve as examples for other patients.

“We have here a woman who survived breast cancer, who joins us today with her testimony and who has become an emblem and a heroine for other women. If she did it, then of course other women can do it too,” she said.

During the ceremony, Eduardo Asencio, honorary president of the DIF Playa del Carmen, reported that more than 451 free mammograms have been performed since October 2024, including transporting beneficiaries to a specialized clinic in Cancún.

Asencio said prevention efforts are not limited to October, but include ongoing talks and activities at locations across the city.

Municipal Health Secretary José Antonio Uribe Trujillo said early detection improves patients’ chances of treatment and reduces the risks associated with the disease.

“Prevention is not an expense, it is the most sacred investment we can make,” he said.

Before the pink lighting, breast cancer survivor Diana Sandoval Lozano said she was diagnosed five years ago while pregnant. She underwent three rounds of chemotherapy during her pregnancy, and both she and her son pulled through.

“I found out in time, because I was able to do something at that moment,” she said.

Sandoval urged women not to be complacent and to abandon the belief that the disease only affects other people.

“We always say, ‘It won’t happen to me,’ but it does happen and it happens to all of us,” she warned.

The pink illumination of the Municipal Palace served as a call to turn awareness into concrete action on prevention, detection and treatment so that more women can gain timely access to health services.