The screening, which started on Janurary 28 at the Tejuosho shopping mall in Yaba, was held at the Maryland shopping mall on Sunday.Speaking on the purpose of the outreach, Olawale Ogunlana, a medical doctor and co-founder of the NGO, said the outreach was organised in commemoration of the international cervical cancer awareness month.He said the goal of the campaign is to create awareness, screen 100 women for cervical cancer and treat them on the spot.
“Ideally, Nigerian has one of the highest burdens of cervical cancer in sub-Saharan Africa, and as it is, about 28 to 30 die of cervical cancer each day in Nigeria. So, and it’s the leading course of cancer death in women after breast cancer in Nigeria.” “Our expectation moving forward is that these women are aware about what causes cervical cancer and how best to prevent it. And early detection is key in preventing any cancer, especially cervical,” he said.
Speaking with TheCable, Osero, one of the beneficiaries, said she heard of the outreach from a friend, adding that she is impressed by the organisation. “I’m quite impressed with the organisation. They are a little bit overwhelmed with the crowd but what I find most amazing is that the generation of most people that are here are people under 35, which I’m happy about.