The Medical Women Association of Nigeria (MWAN), Benue state chapter, has launched free Cancer Screening for women in the State for early detection of the disease.
The programme, which will feature monthly breast and cervical cancer screening, is targeted at reaching over 6,000 Benue women.
Launching the medical programme at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Makurdi, wife of the Benue state Governor, Dr. Eunice Ortom, said that more needs to be done to eradicate the disease among women in the state.
Mrs. Ortom who was represented by Dr. Irene Mngutyo, noted that not all the women who needed cancer screening services were able to access them as such, there would be the need to explore approaches that would take screening for cervical cancer to the door steps of needy women.
She noted that even though there is the self-examination option for women, there is also the need to tutor women on the right steps to do it and advocated for more partnerships.
“Achieving goal 3 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which is to ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages is possible through partnerships.
“It is in recognition of partnership as a core pillar of sustainable development that the SDG 17 is dedicated to partnerships. With sustained and enhanced partnerships, we can surmount all health challenges including breast and cervical cancer and avail our good people of Benue State the opportunity to lead healthy, better meaningful and productive lives”, she stated.
Earlier, the President of MWAN in the state, Dr. Laadi Swende, lamented that cancer has become a global problem and still remains one of the killer diseases amongst women.
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Mrs. Swende who lamented that the disease had shortened the lives of many, said MWAN in the state has decided to launch the awareness programme on Breast and Cervical Cancer Screening to help women detect cases of cancer to ensure early treatment in order to boost life span.
She maintained that the association was committed to ensuring improvement in the standard of healthcare so as to kick cervical and breast cancer out of the state and increase the life expectancy of Benue women.
Dr. Swende called on health partners, well-meaning individuals and corporate organizations to join MWAN in the fight against the killer disease, disclosing that over 4000 to 6000 women are expected to benefit from the free breast and cervical cancer screening exercise at the end of the day.
Also, the Chief medical Director, Benue State University Teaching Hospital, (BSUTH), Makurdi, Terlumun Swende, advised women to go for regular cancer screening exercise to ensure early detection and treatment, saying that the teaching hospital is in partnership with the Federal Medical Centre, Makurdi to make every Cancer treatment available for women in the state.
He intimated that the two hospitals have functional testing machines for women to access and charged them to take advantage of those facilities to reduce their chances of being cancer positive.
He described cervical cancer “as a dangerous tumour of the cervix and the lowermost part of the uterus that principally Destroys best parts of human bodies” and appealed to people to frequently ask for a PAP smear test that usually detects if a woman has cervical cancer.
A gynaecologist with FMC Makurdi, Dr. Otene while speaking on cervical cancer, advised women to go for PAP smear at least once in a year for early detection of cervical cancer.
He said that 99℅ of women are at risk of cervical cancer, advising that any woman who notices unusual and abnormal growth around her body must go for a PAP smear test.
