In a bid to prioritise health of police officers’ wives, the Wife of the Inspector General of Police and National President of the Police Officers Wives Association, POWA, Hajiya Hajara Usman Alkali Baba has flagged off a cancer screening exercise in Lagos.
Speaking during the flag-off at POWA multi-purpose hall, Ikeja, Hajara Usman Alkali Baba said the outreach is quite timely when Nigerian women bear the highest cancer burden as the top cancers.
According to her, breast, cervical and ovarian cancer are common with women.
For this reasons, her administration has set out a well-defined three points agenda which includes health, welfare and education for the betterment of police officers wives in the nation.
POWA president advised women to take the issue of their health serious, because health is wealth.
She said, “We are exceedingly grateful for this worthy partnership set out by Monitor Healthcare and Sebeccly Cancer Care in partnership with POWA as this is a well-intended and deliberate step taken to alleviate the burden of cancer in Nigeria.
“As you grant kindness to 400 members of POWA in this free but unique exercise today which shall be running through the four days scheduled, let me assure you that posterity does not forget in a hurry these act of kindness as we urge other development partners to follow suit.
“As a responsive and proactive organisation, POWA under my leadership is ever willing and ready to partner with you in the fight to defeat this monster called cancer. “And this we hope to do through sensitisation, responsiveness, and care for the victims of cancer.
“I wish to urge us today to take this exercise very seriously in the fight against breast and cervical cancer and urge our partners to replicate this same gesture across the zones of police formations as it is a sure way to reduce the unfortunate rise in statistics of cancer, through the provision of cancer prevention services, early detection of cancer and prompt treatment.
“My advice for everyone is to listen to the physicians here today, it’s for your own good, it took us months to organise this event, it is true that some of you may be able to afford it but some women can’t afford it and prevention is better than cure.
In the same vein, the wife of the Commissioner of police, Lagos State, Mrs. Tosin Alabi welcomed the Inspector General’s wife to the state for the screening exercise which kicked started in Lagos.
A medical practitioner, Dr. Femi Ogunremi also encouraged the women on the need to constantly check themselves of any changes in their body, stressing that periodic screening is of necessity.
The doctor noted that the ratio of women suffering from cancer in developed countries is higher than that of African but there are more survivors because they get them screened regularly.
Giving insight on the condition across the country, Dr. Ogunremi explained: “Our story in Nigeria is that some ladies will have health problems which they don’t know what it is or the cause and instead of going to the hospital, they are praying. Cancer cells are wicked cells, and while it’s undetected, the lumps keep growing till it becomes uncontrollable.
“Other countries have many survivors because they do screening routinely. Here we are afraid of cancer because we did not know what to do and end up doing the wrong thing. Women should always examine their breasts periodically and monitor their health,” the doctor advised.
