Mrs Omolewa Ahmed, wife of the Kwara Governor, has called for the inclusion of breast and cervix screening for cancer in the pre-admission medical checks across Nigerian varsities.
Ahmed made the call on Thursday during an advocacy visit to the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, Prof Sulyman Abdulkareem.
The visit of the Governor’s wife was part of the awareness campaign on the dangers associated with cancer and the need for screening to save lives.
She said establishing a basic screening center for breast and cervical in universities’ clinics, would fulfilled two of the four essential pillars of cancer treatment and care.
She listed these to include, improving the quality of cancer data for public health use and increasing the number of people that have access to early detection and accurate diagnosis.
Ahmed lamented that millions of people in the world face unequal access to cancer detection and treatment.
She was however optimistic that health professionals and supporters across the world are pushing for urgent action to reduce the rate of premature cancer deaths globally.
“The global target of a 25 percent reduction in premature deaths from cancer and non-communicable diseases by 2025 is possible.
“However to deliver on this global commitment, the current inequities in risk factor exposure, and access to screening, early detection and timely treatment must be addressed,” she said.
In his remark, the VC, Prof Abdulkareem described cancer as a serious health issue across the country, emphasizing that early detection is the key to save people’s lives.
Abdulkareem said the university has acquired two screening machines to assist in screening and research in the newly established Clinical Assessment Centre of the University of Ilorin.
