Free breast cancer and cervical cancer screening was conducted for all women present at the POWA Hall, Ikeja GRA, Lagos yesterday.
This was at the behest of the Wife of the Inspector General of Police and Police Officers Wives Association, POWA’s National President, Hajiya Hajara Usman Alkali Baba which is currently holding a 4-day health outreach in Lagos Command.
The health awareness and screening programme targeted at minimum of 400 women over the four days is organized in collaboration with Monitor Healthcare Ltd.
The outreach is hinged on one of the 3-Point-Agenda of Hajiya Hajara Alkali Baba, the wife of Inspector-General of Police, IGP Usman Alkali Baba. Her focus areas are health, wealth, and education.
In attendance at the cancer screening outreach were wives of DIGs, AIGs, Police Commissioners from other states, some national executives of POWA and members of POWA Lagos Chapter.
Speaking at the health outreach, Hajiya Hajara Usman Alkali Baba, the wife of the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Usman Alkali Baba noted: ‘This outreach is quite timely when Nigerian women bear the highest cancer burden as the top cancers namely breast, cervical, and ovarian cancer mostly occur in women. As a responsive and proactive organization, POWA, under my leadership is ever willing and ready to partner with bodies in the fight to defeat this monster called cancer.’
‘The activity going on today is eradication of cancer in the society, in the Police family.
I want to encourage all women to get tested. The screening for cancer will not stop here. It will move to other states.
We did in Kogi state two months go and we are in Lagos today, we will visit other states.
If we discover that any of our women is down with cancer during the screening, we will let the IGP know and we allow him to make decision on how we can cater for them. We are under the Police’.
‘We did a road walk in the morning. It is part of my 3-point agenda whch covers health.
Every woman in the Police formation should spend 30 minutes to 1 hour in doing exercise.
Whatever you are doing today, doctors will tell you to do exercise so I want my women to inculcate the habit.
It will take burden out of our health challenge’, she said about the Fitness and Wellness Road Walk that was held around 8am in the Ikeja axis.
On how she is addressing other areas of her 3-Point Agenda, ‘I have been going round to do empowerment.
Lagos was my starting point and I have gone to 11 states to support the poorer women in POWA’, Hajiya Hajara Usman Alkali Baba revealed to the President of National Association of Online Security News Publishers, Oki Samson at the Road Walk Exercise.
On her part, Mrs. Tosin Abiodun Alabi, the wife of Lagos CP Abiodun Alabi was elated to receive the wife of the IGP who came all the way from Abuja.
She welcomed Hajiya Hajara Usman Alkali Baba to the 4-day event which is focused on cancer awareness and screening.
‘This is a platform for women, especially wives of Police officers here in Lagos and of course, Nigeria’, she said.
Mrs. Alabi then emphasized the fact that cancer is killing women and what they need to do as wives of Police officers is to create awareness about the dangers. She also mentioned the need for early detection of breast cancer and cervical cancer.
The 4-day event was kicked off with the opening charge given by the Lagos Police PRO, CSP Adekunle Ajisebutu.
He gave way for Mrs. Anthony, an Assistant Commissioner of Police and National Secretary of Police Officers Wives Association (POWA) to give a short welcome remark.
She talked about the fact that breast cancer and cervical cancer is quite common in women aged 20 to the 40s.
The MD/CEO of Monitor Healthcare Ltd., Dr. Babafemi Ogunremi gave a detailed enlightenment on cancer and its dangers. He also shared tips on how women can check themselves at home and head to the hospital if they notice anything wrong.
The UK-based doctor then gave way for the testing proper to commence.
It was conducted by the health officials present and was flagged off as the wife of the IGP, Hajia Hajara Usman Alkali Baba and wife of CP, Mrs. Tosin Alabi were first to get tested.
