The Lift Above Poverty Organization (LAPO), in conjunction with Egor Local Government Area of Edo State, on Wednesday conducted free Cancer screening for 30 women in the council and its environs as part of activities to mark the World Cancer Day.
Addressing participants at the free screening conducted for women at Uwelu Primary health centre in Benin City, Mrs.Jennifer Oviawe, head of LAPO, Edo region, who said the 2023 World Cancer Day has as its theme “Closing the Care Gap”, explained that the free cancer screening was aimed at reducing the high incidence of cancer cases through early detection.
Mrs.Oviawe further said the ongoing free cancer screening for women was part of LAPO’s Corporate Social Responsibility in bridging the gap in the financial cost of accessing affordable and effective healthcare services in the treatment and management of Cancer in communities without proper functional healthcare system.
She stressed that cervical cancer was the deadliest killer of all cases in women, followed by breast cancer as third in the world.
She said every woman was at risk of contracting cervical cancer, noting that most cases were caused by the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) and spread through unprotected sex.
Also speaking, Mrs Egboigbe Oghogho, LAPO health volunteer and staff nurse/midwife in Egor PHC, cautioned the women against certain risk factors capable of predisposing them to cancer.
Alcoholism, smoking, continuous use of family planning, heredity and consumption of canned/processed foods, according to the health volunteer, were some of the risk factors that predispose women to cancer.
She, however, advised the women to look out for such signs as abnormal bleeding during or after sexual intercourse or between menstrual periods, post-menopausal bleeding, unusual and unpleasant vaginal discharge, lower back pains as well as discomfort or pains during intercourse as symptoms of cervical cancer.
The women were also taught signs to look out for in breast cancer by always carrying out the practice of self-examination of the breast for lump in front of a mirror.
Mrs.Oghogho appealed to the women in the community and its environs to avail themselves of the ongoing free screening opportunity provided by LAPO to examine their body for cancer at the designated centers, noting that a good number of women were deliberately unwilling to allow healthcare personnel to screen and examine their body anatomy for the disease.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Goodness Peters, one of the beneficiaries of the free cancer screening, while commending LAPO for organizing the free screening for women in the council, said the screening was successful as she was certified to be free of cervical cancer, noting that it was well conducted by healthcare personnel without any form of pains.
Another beneficiary, Mrs.Ijeoma Chinedu, said she was confirmed to be free of either cervical or breast cancer after the screening by the healthcare personnel.
