United Against Cancer: Fighting today for a cure tomorrow.

                                          

The fourth day of February every year is declared for the celebration of the world cancer day and the theme for this year is “Together it is possible” we can all fight against the scourge of cancer. Let us dispel all the myths and misconceptions we have about the disease and join hands to eradicate this disease. This period the world over is dedicated to promoting awareness on cancer, emphasizing early detection and treatment. On this occasion the Empire State building in New York will be lit orange and blue, the fourth year in a row for the promotion of cancer. The good news is that a lot of people are being educated on the devastation the scourge of this disease is bringing to a number of families. There is a geometric increase in the ratio of new incidence detected in Nigeria daily. The focus is mostly on breast cancer (women) and lung cancer (men). Although these cancers can affect all population but it could be gender based as indicated.

Nigeria, some individuals, non governmental organizations, private organizations and even the federal government have set up programs events to provide education, early detection and treatment for cancers as the need may be but is that enough? Treatment of any form of cancer can be very expensive ranging from the chemotherapy, medications and surgeries. What can we do to support the cases that require treatment? There is a need to provide machinery such as mammograms and more cancer centers for mammogram used for diagnosis of breast cancer. Early detection of cancers have been identified as the key to total eradication of cancers for they can be treated in time before there is a spread of vital organs of the body. Therefore the constant need to promote and increase awareness of breast self-examination and routine screening.

One of such events sponsored by an organization on 9^th of November, 2013 was the Zumbathon dance for a cure was held in Lagos as an avenue where celebrities came together to create awareness on the need to promote early detection and support the cancer cause through a dance session. It was highly entertaining and fun and also a source of exercise for most of those that attended for the dance was intense and vigorous. The event was organized by WOW Divinely Inspired Victoriously Anointed Sisters (Divas) a celebrities that were involved include Neato C,  Mrs Udo Maryann Okonjo, Rita Dominic, Julius Agwu, Sophie Mbakwe, Dr Ebele Alaka, Betty Irabor, Weird MC, Ego Boyo, Frank Edoho to mention a few with Genevieve magazine, Seplat Petroleum, Pillar Oil, Staoil and This Day Style as some of the sponsors. Some pictures of the event are shown below.

                                                

As this year’s theme implies, together we can fight for a cure by organizing events around our communities, host festivals, run/walks, seminars, public information campaigns to raise awareness and educate people on how to fight cancer through  screening and early detection, quitting smoking, adopting healthy eating habits, increasing physical activities and persuading government and policy makers to give priority to cancer prevention.

 Written by O’ Reese on behalf of En-pact Solutions Limited, 2014

Twitter: @O Reese2

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