PHOTOS: NGO offers free cervical cancer screening in Lagos

100k Club, a medical non-governmental organisation, has organised a three-day free cervical cancer screening in Lagos.

The screening, which started on Janurary 28 at the Tejuosho shopping mall in Yaba, was held at the Maryland shopping mall on Sunday.

The third phase of the screening will hold on Monday at LifePro Medicare in Alausa, Ikeja.

Speaking on the purpose of the outreach, Olawale Ogunlana, a medical doctor and co-founder of the NGO, said it was organised in commemoration of the international cervical cancer awareness month.

Ogunlana also said the outreach is expedient, owing to the fact that “28 to 30 women in Nigeria die of cervical cancer every day”.

“The purpose of this outreach is in line with the vision of the 100k club, which is actually to reach out to people using crowdfunding to ensure that every Nigerian has proper access to healthcare,” he said.

“So, the goal of this campaign is in view of the January cervical cancer international awareness campaign. And the goal is to reach out to as many women as possible.

“We actually targeted 100 women to reach out to them about cervical cancer, screen them and also treat them on the spot if there are any changes in the lining of the cervix.

“Ideally, Nigerian has one of the highest burdens of cervical cancer in sub-Saharan Africa, and as it is, about 28 to 30 die of cervical cancer each day in Nigeria. It’s the leading cause of cancer death in women after breast cancer in Nigeria.”

Ogunlana said he expects the outreach to raise significant awareness about the causes of cervical cancer, adding that this will aid early detection and prevention.

He called for support from institutions and individuals to support the 100k Club in reaching more women in urban and rural areas.

“Our expectation, moving forward, is that these women are aware about what causes cervical cancer and how best to prevent it. And early detection is key in preventing any cancer, especially cervical,” he said.

“In the space of two days, we have detected about 23 women that have had cervical changes that could lead to cervical cancer. We also attended to a woman who is at the advanced stage of cervical cancer and she did not know. If this had been detected 10 years ago, probably, she would have had a better prognosis.

“So far, we have had other NGOs that we have partnered with as technical partners for this campaign. We have given.ng, a crowdfunding platform that supported us through Sterling Bank.

“We are open to collaborations. Our own lean budget is a major part of what we use to ensure that we could reach to these women. But moving forward, we are open to collaboration with other NGOs, both national and international, to make sure we can reach out to more women.”

Speaking with TheCable, Osero, one of the beneficiaries, said she heard about the outreach from a friend, adding that she is impressed by the organisation.

“I heard about this outreach through a friend from my church. I have been meaning to do my own screening privately but this is an opportunity to key into that,” she said.

“I’m quite impressed with the organisation. They are a little bit overwhelmed with the crowd but what I find most amazing is that the generation of most people that are here are people under 35, which I’m happy about.

“This means the younger generation are becoming more aware. If they are this conscious, then it’s good news for us, in terms of catching female ailments before it starts. Leaving here today, I’d be better off because I now know my status.”

Fidel Adewere, another beneficiary, said one of her family members died of cervical cancer and she had to register as soon as she came across the information.

“I got to know about the screening through Twitter and I followed the 100k Club to get more information about it. I registered and I got the invitation,” she said.

“Fortunately, I have been screened and it’s an eye opener. My message to women out there is to check themselves for cervical cancer because I have a relative who died of this because she discovered very late.”

Faith, who tested positive for Human Papillomavirus (HPV), said she was a bit scared but on taking the test, she felt relieved.

“I have been examined. It was good, though I was a bit scared at first. I did it and it was smooth, though i was positive,” she said.

Below are photos.