Women in Rotary, a group of female members of Rotary Club, Oyo State chapter, on Friday, screened 100 women for breast cancer.
The group urged women to always conduct self breast examination for early detection of lump and eventual treatment.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the establishment of Women in Rotary was approved by Rotary International in order to add value to its activities.
NAN also reports that the screening was part of the activities marking the celebration of World Cancer Day, with the theme “Close the Care Gap.”
Speaking at the event, Coordinator of the group in the state, Mrs Folake Ladeinde, explained that the screening was organised due to the increasing rate of breast cancer deaths across the world.
Ladeinde said that education on self breast cancer examination would help in early detection and consequently save lives.
“If lumps are detected early after self examination, the next thing is to see a doctor.
“People should not panic when they discover lumps because not all lumps are cancerous. Detection of lumps in the breast is not a death sentence,” she said.
According to her, women in rotary intend to close the gap on the rate of death of breast cancer patients by educating and training teenage girls and mature women on how to do breast self examination.
“By doing this, we are closing the gap of death rate on breast cancer in the society,” she said.
Ladeinde said that some lumps were just abnormal growth, which needed to be treated in order not to degenerate.
Earlier, a Public Health Nurse, Mrs Olufunmilayo Ogunbanwo, called on women, who were still menstruating, to always do their breast self examination three to five days after menstruation.
She said that those not menstruating should do theirs once in a month.
Ogunbanwo urged them to reduce their intake of preservative and fatty food, and reduce excessive weight, all of which, she said, were the likely causes of breast cancer.
Speaking on behalf of the beneficiaries, Mrs Akande Sakirat, commended the group for the free screening, saying that they derived lots of benefits from the exercise. (NAN)
