BY TOSIN ADESILE, UNILAG

The University of Lagos chapter of the Pharmaceutical Association of Nigerian Students (PANS), and Seplat Petroleum Development Company Limited have joined forces to promote breast cancer awareness amongst Nigerians with view to checking the spread of the disease.

The campaign which is sponsored by SEPLAT, an indigenous Petroleum company, was part of the activities designed to commemorate the 2012 edition of PANS’ annual health week.

The health week which has as its theme, “Global Trend in Pharmacy Practice: Nigeria’s Position”, was held between 25th to the 30th of June 2012.

During the period, the students  organised a breast cancer awareness programme in Mushin, Surulere and Akoka areas of Lagos, with special focus on Mushin model Market, Randle General Hospital, Surulere Local Government and University of Lagos campus, Akoka.

According to the President PANS, UNILAG, Alao Ishaq the objective of the campaign was to help draw attention of people to the danger of breast cancer as well as assist in educating the public, especially the female folks on how to detect and prevent the disease and its scourge.

Speaking on the sponsorship, the General Manager, Corporate Affairs and New Business Development, Seplat Petroleum Development Company Limited, Dr. Chioma Nwachuku, said that “the programme is consistent with the vision of the company’s CSR initiatives.

She explained that the campaign is a worthy addition to similar enlightenment programmes that aim at curtailing the spread of the disease which is generally known to be responsible for about 16% of all cancer related deaths in the country.

The awareness campaign later saw to the emergence of a 200 level student of Pharmacology, Sandra Williams as “Miss Medilag Beauty Pageant”.

The winner of the pageant was then named the first ever “Breast Cancer Awareness Ambassador” of the College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Idi Araba, Lagos.

According to the Breast Cancer Association of Nigeria, ignorance and lack of support are the commonest factors contributing to the prevalence of the disease in the country.

Breast Cancer constitutes a major public health issue globally with over 1 million new cases diagnosed annually, resulting in over 400,000 annual deaths and about 4.4 million women living with the disease.