Hospital Provides Free Breast, Cervical Cancer Screening In FCT

Laughters of Charity of St. Vincent De Paul Hospital, Kubwa, FCT, says it has organised free breast and cervical cancer screening for more than 150  residents in Abuja as part of its charity works.

Dr Patrick Ezie, Head of Clinical Service of the hospital, said the hospital decided to organise the screening as part of its commitment to improving the health care of Nigerians, especially the poor.

“This intervention was developed by the hospital facility because we realised that we are having a lot of women in the community presenting with breast cancers and sometimes, they die of it because of lack of awareness.

“So the hospital decided to look into its corporate social responsibility and see what it can do for the community of Kubwa by ensuring that they have the knowledge of what they need to know about these illnesses.

“So we decided to write to churches, mosques as well as markets in the area so that they can come and benefit from the knowledge of experts, so that they can also know that they can prevent these illnesses from taking their lives.

“What we noticed in our facility is that in every two months, we hear of a woman that dies of cancer or a woman that presents an advanced stage of cancer in the hospital or during routine checks, women that are diagnosed with cancer without them knowing.

“From our records we started noticing that increase and so we decided to bring this knowledge out there by bringing women so that they can know how to take care of themselves,” he said.

Ezie added that women diagnosed with any sign of cancer would be referred to appropriate gynaecologist in the hospital facility for proper care.

He also urged other health facilities to organise free cancer screening to reduce the rising cases of the ailment in the country.

“This is a novel project, it is the first of its kind and I believe that if other hospitals are doing such projects across the country, it will help women have more information about it.

“I know that the finances are not always there but I believe that health care information is not an expensive thing to provide,” he added.

Dr Uche Nwogu, representative of the National Cancer Control Programme, Ministry of Health, said that the government was making frantic effort at creating more awareness of the ailment.

“What need to be done to reduce the number of new cases is awareness and awareness.

“When people are aware of the risk factors and how to prevent it, we will  stop having new cases”, he said.

Ms Rukayya Abdulraman, a beneficiary of the screening, appreciated the hospital for the gesture, noting that it was important for all women to make themselves available for regular screening.

“I advise every woman to embark on regular screening to take advantage of opportunities such as this and get screened.

“As it is popularly said, prevention is better than cure,” she warned.