The wife of Zamfara State governor, Hajiya Huriya Dauda Lawal, has urged women and girls in the state to inculcate the habit of frequent testing and screening for cervical and breast cancer, for early diagnosis.
The Zamfara First Lady gave the advice during a one-day conference on ‘Optimizing Cervical Cancer Prevention in Low Resource Settings’, organised by the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, SSANU, at the Federal University Gusau.
Mrs Lawal, who was represented by the Commissioner for Women, Children and Social Development, Dr. Nafisa Muhammad Maradun, said the state government was aware of the disturbing cancer situation and is determined to meet the 90-70-90 World Health Organization,WHO, cancer elimination strategy.
“Most cancer cases are detected late and which contributes to the high mortality rate, and the state government
is working with all partners to expand the HPV Cervical Cancer Prevention Services to some health facilities in the state.
“I want to use this opportunity to appeal to the media to sensitize the women and girls in the state to get informed, screened and vaccinated against the killer disease,” she said.
The representative of the governor’s wife presented a donation of N400,000 at the workshop, saying that N300,000 was from the Office of the First Lady, Hajiya Huriya Lawal, while N100,000 was from the state Ministry for Women, Children and Social Development.
Earlier, the organiser of the conference and Women Leader, Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, SSANU, Hajia Sadiya Sulaiman Maru, thanked the First Lady for her continued support to women in the state.
