More than 1,200 women have benefitted from free cervical cancer screening and treatment in Cross River State, southern Nigeria.
The free screening and treatment is part of the Cross River State Government campaign to encourage rural women in particular to develop the practice of constant health checks, particularly for the prevention of cervical and breast cancer.
The Commissioner for Health, Dr. Inyang Asibong, told newsmen in Calabar city that the government decided to declare January 2018 as Cervical Cancer month as part of efforts to achieve Universal Health Coverage.
Asibong said “Cervical Cancer is one diseases that ravages women and can be preventable even through vaccines. As we prepared to mark the international awareness day, the State Government decided to make January cervical Cancer month and it has paid off”.
According to her, “more than one thousand women have been screened. We got the necessary equipment with the aid of our partners, Pathfinder International, and distributed these to the General Hospital Ogoja and Calabar”.
She pointed out that more equipment would be distributed for use at some healthcare centres to enable more rural women, particularly those living within difficult to reach area, access to the treatment.
The Commissioner further noted that rural women avoid going for frequent checks due to the perceived high cost of treatment in addition to certain traditional beliefs and superstitions.
Asibong said the Ministry of Health and the Primary Health Care Development Agency were holding intensive campaign across the villages to create awareness on cervical cancer and the available free services aimed at reducing the mortality rate of women.
“In conjunction with the Primary Healthcare agency, we have done serious awareness campaigns in our villages. You know the equipment were at Ogoja, but were are going to Sankwala and bigger health centres. Our intention is to save many lives as possible”, she hinted.
“Treatment for women ages 30 and above is free, completely free. We need women to develop this attitude of constantly going for health checks. When discovered early, cancer is treatable. That is what we want, prevention. Preventing women from the pains and suffering that comes with this disease”, Asibong stressed.
She assured of the ministry’s readiness to embark on programmes that would be beneficial to all classes of people irrespective of age, gender and financial status. – VON.
