Shoprite Nigeria, in partnership with Run For a Cure Africa (RFCA), has concluded plans to offer free breast cancer screening to Nigerians across the six geo-political zones of the country next month.
The initiative, tagged ‘Big Pink Fight’ and holding from 3rd February to 8th February 2020, is expected to give women access clinical breast examinations, ultrasound scans and mammograms.
The event would also feature awareness programmes aimed at sensitizing members of the public on the need to get tested, to ensure early detection of breast cancer, as it’s easier to save lives at its early stages.
“The early detection of the disease is a crucial factor in its successful treatment. However, the sad reality in Nigeria 75% of breast cancer cases are diagnosed too late, when treatment is prohibitively expensive and survival rates greatly diminished,” says Dr Ebele Mbanugo, founder and executive director of RFCA.
A statement from the leading Pan-African consumer goods retailer, Shoprite Nigeria, said four of the screening stations will be situated at Shoprite stores -Asaba Mall in Delta state, Onitsha Mall in Anambra state, Novare Gateway Mall in FCT Abuja and Ado Bayero Mall in Kano state.
In addition, it noted that the screening dates and locations are as followed: 3rd-5th February, Department of Radiology, Yobe University Teaching Hospital, Damaturu; 4th-5th February, Lagos University Teaching Hospital, A and E Building, Idi Araba Surulere, Lagos; 4th-5th February, Shoprite, Asaba Mall, Asaba, Delta; 6th-7th February, Shoprite, Onitsha Mall, Onitsha, Anambra; 7th-8th February, Shoprite, Novare Gateway Mall along Airport Road, Lugbe, Abuja and from 7th-8th February, Shoprite, Ado Bayero Mall, Zoo road, Kano.
It will be recalled that Shoprite’s partnership with RFCA dates back to 2014, when both joined hands to raise awareness on breast cancer and rolled-out free screenings. It stated that some 5,000 women have since benefited from these screenings which hold annually.
