The wife of Zamfara governor, Hajiya Huriya Lawal, has urged women and girls in the state to inculcate the habit of frequent testing and screening for cervical and breast cancer, for early diagnosis.She made the call at a public lecture to inaugurate the campaign to create awareness against the spread of cancer in Gusau.
Lawal said the campaign against cancer and creating awareness on the early detection was apt and timely.
She said that the Zamfara government has provided two mammography centres.
“It is worrisome that records from our medical personnel in the state indicate alarming situation with the prevalence of cancer going higher by the day.
”For instance from 2019 til date, in every 100 screened women in our state 10 either have breast or cervical cancer.
The two mammography centres in Anka and Gusau will assist in the examination and detection of cancer before reaching it reaches a complex stage,” she said.
It is against this background, the governor’s wife reiterated call for all hands to be on deck in changing the narrative about this deadly diseases cancer.
“We must use the current opportunity provided by the ongoing vaccination against the cervical cancer to encourage our daughters within the age limit to avail themselves with the opportunity.
“We will work through our foundation and Government machinery to create awareness among our people and fight this disease out of this state and Nigeria as a whole,” she said.
Also speaking, the Commissioner for Health, Dr Aisha Anka said government was making substantial investment in the prevention and management of all cancer in the state.
The commissioner who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Aliyu Maikiyyo said government had give attention to research and data collection as the necessary for policy making.
Anka said that cancer was not only a women issue.
