Faith-Based Groups Sensitises Nigerians on Cervical Cancer Prevention

Crusoe Osagie
Knights of the Saint Mulumba (KSM) in partnership with Catholic Young Adult Association (CYAA) have sensitised the Nigerian populace on ways to prevent and cure cervical cancer, noting that on a daily basis, about 26 people die from this dreadful disease.

The World Grand Knight (WGK), KSM of the Lekki sub-council, Mr. Johnny Ngonadi, explained the urgent need to educate and sensitise the public on how best to prevent the disease in order to reduce the mortality rate in Nigeria.

In a walk to sensitise the people around its environs, Ngonadi said the initiative was to walk against the spread of cervical cancer in the country, saying that Nigeria is the 10th in cervical cancer death worldwide where about 40,000 Nigerian women are at risk of getting infected by the disease.

“We are doing this walk as a means of preserving life. We call it a pro life programme because we believe that when life is conceived, it must be respected. Life is created by God and He commanded that we respect life no matter the circumstances. Today, we are on a walk against spread and prevention of cervical cancer,” he noted.

He stressed the need for schools to make religious studies a compulsory subject to bring about a sense of morality amongst youths in order to guard against certain crimes and actions which could result to cervical cancer.

“When I was young, religion was a major part of our school education and it was compulsory and it helped because it thought us to get out of some certain crimes. This is why the Knights of St. Mulumba and the Catholic Church brought up this initiative,” he said.

“Before the walk, I told the youths that now that they are aware about the prevention, causes and cure, they should try and spread the gospel to their peers and counterparts.

Also speaking, the Chairperson, Pro life, Lekki Sub Council, Dr. Gertrude Bassey, added that the walk was jointly conducted by the Catholic Church of Mother and Queen, Badore to create awareness on cervical cancer for the young girls and women pointing out that cervical cancer was a leading cause for mortality in Nigeria.

“It is sad because this disease is preventable and treatable if it is diagnosed on time, women will not be dying from this preventable disease,” adding that cervical cancer has risk factors commonly caused by Human Papilomavirus (HPV), early sexual activities, multiple partners and the likes, urging young women to have vaccination from age nine to 16, and if possible keep to a single sexual partner,” she said.