Wife of Kwara State governor, Omolewa Ahmed, and the National Orientation Agency (NOA) on Friday collaborated on health awareness campaign against cancer for ministries across the state.
In his opening remarks, Lanre Bello, executive director of the Life Empowers Anchors Hope (LEAH) foundation belonging to Ahmed, said the foundation also organised free cancer screening for 150 principals in NOA.
The foundation, according to Bello, has been active in its campaign against breast and cervical cancer across the 16 local government areas of the state, saying since commencement of the campaign in the last five years, new cases were being encountered everyday.
He pointed out that it was possible to eradicate the disease through extensive campaign for both women and men to go for screening.
Earlier in his welcoming address, Olusegun Adeyemi, director of NOA, commended LEAH foundation for the free breast and cervical cancer screening for principals of his agency.
He said the agency was saddled with responsibility of enlightening and sensitising the citizenry on important issues affecting their live and vice-versa, reporting back to the government.
Adeyemi told participants on the need for them to enlighten people outside to take action and go for screening, adding that cancer was a burden to the country’s development, the family and society as a whole.
Also in his lecture, Adegboyega Fawole, a gynaecologist with the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH), explained that in the World Health Organisation report of year 2000, about 6.2 million people died of cancer.
The expert therefore warned that by year 2020, there would be 10 million new cases of the disease, which translates to 50 percent increase.
“Africa has the highest cancer cases in the world because people have no culture of check-up and screening for the disease. While this disease has reduced in the western world,” he said.
Fawole lamented that about 60 percent cancer cases only get reported in the hospital when it is already advanced and at stage three or four.
The gynaecologist urged people to save their lives and their loved ones by going for screening, adding that there is also immunisation against cervical cancer.
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