IWD: NGO sensitises women on breast cancer, child spacing in Kaduna
Project Smile, an NGO, on Wednesday, sensitised women on breast cancer, child spacing in Kaduna North and Chikun Local Government Areas of Kaduna State.
The Founder of the group, Comfort Ojo, said the sensitisation was part of activities to mark the 2022 International Women’s Day (IWD), annually marked to bring to the fore, issues that affect women and girls, with a view to finding solutions to the problems.
The 2022 celebration has “Gender Equality Today for a Sustainable Tomorrow’’ with #BreakTheBias as hashtag.
Ojo said that the celebration was geared toward sensitising women on child spacing, the dangers of breast cancer and the need for screening and early detection of the disease.
She said that women were the life lines of the family, hence the need to keep them healthy to continue adding value to the society.
According to her, early detection of lumps in the breast will go a long way in helping affected persons in commencing treatment early.
“We targeted the communities because they form the largest part of the state and most of the women here are not aware about cervical cancer.
“So, we feel we have to come to these areas to make them knowledgeable about breast cancer for them to live healthy and carry on with their activities of taking care of their families.’’
Christiana Chima, a Nurse, who demonstrated how the breast could be examined to the beneficiaries, said cervical cancer, was common among women in northern Nigeria, which she hinged on ignorance.
She noted that “breast cancer is not a death sentence, with early detection, lives of women can be saved and they can live healthy lives.”
Chima also sensitised the women on facts and myths surrounding breast cancer, self-examination and mental health.
In separate interviews, two women who participated, Grace Ibrahim and Fatima Abdullahi, said they have never heard of self-examination for cancer in spite of being married for years.
Mrs Mariam Ayuba, another participant, appreciated the NGO for the gesture, adding that the initiative had widened her knowledge about breast cancer.
Newsmen reports that the NGO distributed fliers on breast cancer and child spacing.
