Aisha Buhari calls for stronger action against cancer in Nigeria

 

Aisha Buhari calls for stronger action against cancer in Nigeria

Nigeria’s first lady Aisha Buhari has declared support in the fight against all forms of cancer, calling on stakeholders to put more efforts into awareness creation in order to reduce the rate of mortality associated with the disease.

She made the call at the national flag-off of “Arm our youth” (ArOY) anti-cancer health campaign, organised by Onyebuchi Chris Ifediora (OCI) Foundation, in collaboration with National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in Abuja on Thursday.

The first lady who was represented by the wife of the vice president, Dolapo Osibanjo said, “I wish to declare my support in the fight against all forms of cancer. It is also important to come up with new ideas such as this cascade campaign to secondary schools.

“It is important to ensure that we do everything possible to reduce the rate of mortality associated with cancer especially cervical and my ‘Future Assured Initiative’ has been at the forefront of this campaign over the years, creating awareness, screening, and making referrals across the country.

“This campaign has reached thousands of members including those in hard-to-reach areas. I intend to do more and partner with more organizations such as Nigerian Cancer Society and OCI foundation until we overcome the negative health outcomes associated with cancer”.

In his remarks, the founder and the president of the OCI Foundation, Chris Ifediora, said that the ArOY health campaign offers an innovative approach to stemming the scourge of breast and cervical cancer among Nigerians.

According to him, the organization is seeking partnership with the Nigerian First Lady and her NGO as well as the current Nigerian legislature to expedite the project with Nigerian senior secondary schools, which can see it completed this year (2022), not in 2025 as projected.

Also speaking, the director-general of NYSC, Ibrahim Shuaibu explained that health service to the community is one of the cardinal programs which occupy the heart of the NYSC.

Shuaibu who was represented by the director of corp mobilisation, Victoria Ango noted that the recently concluded NYSC AMC harped on health expanding the scope of the NYSC Health Initiatives for the Nigerian populace.

He said the partnership between the OCI Foundation and the NYSC (corps members) for awareness of Cancer would not have come at a better time than now. The awareness might, among other things, reduce medical tourism and conserve the hard-earned foreign currency of Nigerians.