Date: 2017-02-05

Mrs Omolewa Ahmed, the Kwara Governor's wife, on Saturday, marked the 2017 World Cancer Day with sensitization walk across Ilorin metropolis to create awareness about the ailment. The walk was a collaboration between the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) and Kwara Ministry of Health.

Ahmed, who is founder of the Life Empowers Anchors Hope (LEAH) foundation, said that the theme of this year's celebration - "We can, I can" , was to encourage collaborative efforts to increase awareness and spur affirmative action.

She then urged religious, cultural and social organizations to Assist in creating awareness of cancer to their adherents.

She said "early detection is key to successful management of cancer. "We, therefore, need to continuously sensitize and educate ourselves on the causative factors of cancer, the lifestyle to be adopted, signs and symptoms to look out for and how to manage it."

The governor's wife explained that data from Ibadan and Abuja cancer registries indicated an increasing number of children who have varying forms of cancer.

She said her foundation launched the LEAH Health Idera Scheme, a health check-up package for individuals and families. Ahmed explained that the scheme was affordable "and offers a structured payment policy designed to ease the financial burden on persons who desire to undergo medical check up but cannot readily afford it."NAN