By  Gabriel Olawale

As part of activities to commemorate this year’s World Cancer Day with the theme ‘I Am and I will’ LEAH Foundation in partnership with Giving. ng has launched an appealing platform to enable them to screen 5,000 women across the country for cancer.

Speaking in Lagos, Project Manager, giving.ng, Mrs. Olapeju Ibekwe said that the collaboration was to enable them to fight cancer which has become a scourge that is killing people on a daily basis.

“We are calling on every Nigerian to do something about how to roll back the cancer scourge by donating any amount of money through giving .ng platform. Donations received would be used to provide free screening for 5000 women in partnership with Leah Foundation,” she said.

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She described giving. ng as a crowdfunding platform that is focused on raising funds with local and international partners to deal with various issues that are affecting the Nigerian society.

“This year’s celebration marks the midway point in the three-year plan of the ‘I Am, and I Will’ campaign. The campaign is an empowering call-to-action urging for personal commitment and represents the power of individual action taken now to impact the future.

Corroborating her views, Executive Director of Leah Foundation, Mr. Lanre Bello, said the foundation had been in the forefront of efforts to control and eradicate some types of cancer through vaccination. He said if serious efforts can be made in that regard, some types of cancer could be eradicated in about 20 years from now.

“Our Foundation has given opportunities to people to be screened but it is not sustainable because one single institution cannot do it alone and that is why we are partnering with giving.ng to help us raise funds to fight the scourge. Our goal is to detect cancer early in a bid to control or eliminate it,” Bello said.

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In her remarks, Mrs. Joke Silva, a Nollywood icon, said she was lending her voice to creating awareness about cancer because awareness is essential in controlling the scourge, remarking that knowledge is power.

She advised young people from the age of 20 and above to go for regular check-ups because reports had shown that if the traces of cancer are detected early in a person, it can be effectively treated.

She said Nigeria lacks proper equipment for screening cancer. She enjoined Nigerians to help the cause by donating through the giving. ng platform in a bid to battle the cancer scourge.

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