Pink Pearl Foundation takes Breast Cancer Screening to Mosques

In a bid to rid Nigeria and its citizens of breast and cervical cancer, Pink Pearl Foundation was on hand at the Oluwole Ogba Mosque in Lagos state recently for a breast and cervical cancer training session.

The session featured an awareness lecture on breast and cervical cancer and a practical session on how a breast self-exam is conducted.

The lecture, delivered in English language, was given by one of the foundation’s medical professional Dr. Vivian Ochilogu and also interpreted into Yoruba by the presiding Host in order to carry along the listening audience. The lecture was punctuated by illustrations and images from the slideshow made available.

Another member of the foundation’s medical team, Dr. Tope Jones, rounded up the lecture and proceeded to demonstrate and teach the women the techniques on how to perform proper breast self-examination as early detection is key to survival.

This was closely followed by a question and answer session officiated by Dr. Ufuoma Oketete which ended the training session with a climax as the enlightened women presented the foundation and the medical team a resounding round of applause.

A free breast cancer screening later followed after the training session with 5 persons diagnosed of breast abnormalities out of the total 53 screened. Spokesperson for Pink Pearl Foundation, Grace Agbanajelu said, this forms the foundation’s most frequent question at the moment, which is, “what do people do after the screening”? “In as much as we try to keep our eyes on the goal of the foundation by its founder – Mrs Orode Ryan Okpu, we are working towards future projects of extending the NGO’s arm to the next level of establishing centres across Nigeria, we want to drive it home, into the hearts of people; the need to encourage women with abnormalities to take the next level of treatment seriously.

The Chief Imam of the mosque, Alhaji Saadallah Bello gave the vote of thanks, acknowledging the foundation’s humanitarian work, the success of the training session and emphasized steps taken by the mosque to help women with abnormalities seek further medical attention. This, he said, was part of their routine and sermon to encourage the women at the mosque to own up to regular checks and also help others. He noted that the five women detected with breast abnormalities would be assisted in getting treatment.

About Pink Pearl Foundation

Pink Pearl Foundation is dedicated to providing high-quality breast and cervical cancer screening and diagnostic services for women who are under-served and to increasing public  awareness through education about symptoms, prevention, diseases processes and the importance of regular examination for early detection.