NASFAT Youths marches to raise cancer awareness
Posted by Ahmed Iyanda | 2 months ago | 339 times
Dozens of Muslim youths today marched from NASFAT Islamic Center, Mowe through the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway to raise awareness on the menace of breast cancer in the country.
The event organized by NASFAT Youth Wing, Ogun Zone 1, was tagged ‘Steps of strength: raising breast cancer awareness’
‘The Walk for Life 2024’ is targeted towards enlightening people about the diseases called cancer and the benefits of early screening as it would enable early detection of cases and treatments.
The Chairman of the Cancer awareness committee , Adenekan Abideen, speaking with our correspondent after the walk said the walk has become part of NASFAT Youth Wing, Ogun Zone 1 effort to make people know about cancer.
Abideen said cancer is one of the diseases which many Nigerians diagnosed find difficult to manage.
“Cancer is not a life sentence. Most people are scared of going for screening because they are afraid of the results. They believe the next thing that is going to happen with cancer diagnosis is death, but that is not always the case.
Speaking on the importance of raising awareness on early cancer screening, Abideen said many people have died because they were not diagnosed early and due to lack of effective treatment facilities in the country.
He advocated the need to raise awareness on the disease to everyone, especially those living in the rural areas and illiterates who have little or no knowledge of the disease.
Abideen advised women to be, “looking up on the texture on the skin of the breast to notice some changes on the skin like those little dots we see on oranges sometimes. You will be checking the nipples and the armpit for lumps.
“The most important thing is that no woman should leave a lump in her breast. Breast cancer has nothing to do with age, so even children should be watchful about lumps in the breasts.
“We used to say check your breast when your period is over, which is once a month. But you do not need to wait for that long because anything can happen in between the periods. Early detection saves life and that is what we preach because prevention is better than cure.”
