Some 3,127 women across all six regions of the country were recently screened for breast cancer following a partnership between Shoprite Nigeria and Run For a Cure Africa (RFCA) which gave them free access to this service.
The event tagged “The Big Pink Fight” took place from 3-8 February 2020 and gave Nigerian women the opportunity to undergo clinical breast exams, ultrasound scans and mammograms. Four of the six screening stations were located at Shoprite supermarkets including Shoprite Asaba mall (Delta State), Shoprite Onitsha Mall (Anambra State), Shoprite Novare Gateway mall (Abuja) and Shoprite Ado Bayero Mall (Kano).
“As a result of Shoprite’s partnership with RFCA, which dates back to 2014, more than 8000 women have now undergone screenings,” said Shoprite Nigeria’s Kunle Abiola.
While speaking to newsmen at Novare Gateway Mall Abuja during the event, Abiola said, “We’re thrilled about the great turnout this year and we plan to roll this initiative out to more communities where we trade.”
“Nearly a hundred percent of the time, women with breast cancer survive if the cancer is discovered early on, but unfortunately this number is reversed in Nigeria because of late detection,” said Ebele Mbanugo, founder and executive director of RFCA. “We are very pleased about the huge turnout of women in the states where we hosted this event with Shoprite. If more businesses partnered with us, we would be able to create even further awareness and reach out to thousands more women across our country.”
Shoprite has positively impacted the lives of many Nigerians since opening its first store in Lagos in December 2005 through its support of local schools as well the financial assistance it provides to almost 2,000 organisations in the country.
