A Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), HealthCare Monitor Ltd., says it has conducted breast cancer screening for over 2,000 women in the last five months.
Dr Femi Ogunremi, the Managing Director of the NGO, made this known during a breast cancer awareness day organised by the Trustees of Fifth Chukker in collaboration with Pink HOPE in Kaduna.
According to Ogunremi, the NGO is in partnership with Fifth Chukker so as to increase the capacity built around breast cancer screening.
He noted that a lot of women and ladies were dying of breast cancer, adding that it was working and carrying out outreach programmes in order to reduce the rate of death from breast cancer.
Ogunremi said that it had carried out outreaches in Lagos, Kwara and Abuja in the last five months.
“Apart from the over 2000 women we have screened, the NGO has conducted free breast cancer screening for over 120 women in Kaduna in the last two days.
“Our target was to screen 100 but we will continue to do more in Kaduna, depending on the capacity we have.
“The objectives of this outreaches are to create awareness, to conduct screening and also to showcase what we have been doing,” he said.
Ogunremi said that the NGO was open for partnership, and called on organisations within and outside Kaduna State to partner with them so as to expand on the programme.
Also a Medical Practitioner, Dr Sannan Yates, called on women to always go for breast cancer examination for early diagnosis.
Yates, who is a Consultant at Barau Dikko Teaching Hospital, Kaduna, said one out of every eight women is at risk of having breast cancer in their lifetime.
She stressed the need for women to undertake breast examination monthly.
“Those who go for breast cancer screening have a lower risk of dying of the diseases, infact their risk is 47 per cent lower than those who do not,” Yates said.
She highlighted some of the early sign of breast cancer to include lumps, pulled nipple, nipple dimpling and redness, rash, and dripping nipples.
Yates stressed that those with such symptoms should raise an alarm so as to have early treatment.
Dr Amina Abubakar, wife of the Niger state Governor and the Chairperson, Northern Governors Wives, also advocated for early diagnosis and screening for breast cancer.
Abubakar, who was represented by Dr Hauwa Kolo, said: “early detection is the key to reducing the scourge of breast cancer in the society,” she said.
The wife of the Kaduna State Governor, Mrs Hadiza El-Rufai, urged all those at the programme to impart what they had learnt to their various communities.
El-Rufai advised women to see a doctor, whenever they felt anything strange about their bodies.
“You should insist about what you feel because you know your body more than anybody,” she said.
Mrs Phoebe Sukaiyayi, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, who is a six years survivor of breast cancer, reiterated the call for regular breast cancer screening, saying that early detection was key to survival.
She urged women who had been diagnosed of breast cancer to always go to the hopital.
“You should not see cancer as a death sentence. They should be encouraged to mantain healthy lifestyle and to also obey rules and regulations given them by doctors.”
