By Juliet Umeh

In celebration of Breast Cancer Awareness month, PanAfrican Capital Foundation, “PAC Foundation”, the corporate social responsibility arm of PanAfrican Capital Holdings, recently sponsored selected underserved women to undergo free breast cancer scans.

The exercise is the concluding phase of the company’s Breast Cancer Awareness campaign that was aimed at providing free breast checks to 50 women and enlightening the general public on the benefits of periodically examining the breasts as well as the dangers of ignoring vital signals or irregularities.

Executive Secretary for the Foundation, Omolola Ojo, said: “Every year, breast cancer kills more than 500,000 women around the world and our commitment is to ensure access to breast checks and breast health education to underserved women.

“One of the things we are doing to support is to provide free mammography and breast scans to women; mainly women who have noticed one or two changes or irregularities in their bodies over the last one year.”

The exercise took place at Clinix Healthcare medical laboratory’s facility at Ilupeju. The beneficiaries were taken through a brief exposition on what breast cancer is all about and how they can carry out periodic self-assessments. They then proceeded to carry out the assessment that was advised based on their age and symptoms.

A Consultant Radiologist from Clinix Healthcare – Dr. Babatunde Oguntade, shared his experience on the need for more women to undergo this procedure.

According to him, some of the ways to reduce breast cancer in Nigeria are Awareness, Education, and Periodic checks at a standard laboratory.

In his words, “When a woman discovers breast cancer early, it is aborted, and the testimony causes a ripple effect that encourages many other persons to come in for the test which can save their lives.” He commended the work of PAC Foundation in encouraging women to see the need for Breast cancer Check-ups.

The foundation’s Programs Officer, Joshua Dominic urged the women not to enjoy the benefit of the sponsorship alone but equally spread the word across their communities and encourage other women to do the same, in order to reduce the number of women who die annually from breast cancer complications.

Breast cancer is a disease in which cells in the breast begin to grow abnormally. Women are more likely to develop breast cancer than men and it is known to be the leading cause of cancer deaths among women.

However, it is treatable if spotted early.

PAC Foundation continually seeks to create social impact through innovation by recognizing the need for immediate action and providing interventions that will support other efforts to bring development that balances social, economic, and environmental sustainability.