Consultant Obstetrics and Gynaecologist, Healthwize Consult, Lagos, Dr Olufunmilola Mojoyinola, and founder and convener of Rock Foundation for Widows, Orphans and Less privileged (ROFWOL), Mrs Favour Chika-Okafor, have tasked government on the need to publicise the danger of cervical cancer and create more awareness for the people, especially screening and testing of women.

The duo spoke at an event in Lagos titled: “Rock Foundation for Widows, Orphans and Less Privileged (ROFWOL), Celebrating 22 Years of Touching Lives and Fundraising for Five Years Project.”

Mojoyinola, while speaking with The Guardian noted that the government had done a lot but needed to more by way of public enlightenment so that people would know that early detection could save lives.

She also lamented that women are not utilising provisions government made for them in government hospitals to screen themselves. She, therefore, called on the womenfolk not to turndown such provisions made for them by the government.

She said: “To void cervical cancer, the first thing a woman should do is to go for screening because it is the screening that will detect if a woman actually has cancer because it does not give symptoms in the early stages until it is about to be diagnosed. So, every woman once you are sexually active must screen for cervical cancer. It can be every three years, using pap smear or using HPV, which is every five years. That is very essential. Then, of course, promiscuity should be avoided but the woman cannot be the only one avoiding being promiscuous because she cannot guarantee what her husband is doing. So, on her part, she should keep to her husband and at the same time screen herself.

“It is caused by human papillomavirus, a sexually transmitted virus, which is commonly transmitted from a man to a woman and that is why men don’t show any thing. A man with HPV may not show any symptom that he has any HPV but he may have a little growth on the penis but that does not come through for every man. What actually is seen is the man transmitting the virus to the woman that is what causes the cancer. When a woman does not screen to check that she has the virus if she ignores screening for eight to ten years she can develop it.

“When we say it is manageable means that the woman has screened and she has been seen to have probably have the precancerous stages that is sign one, two, and three. It is when this woman actually screens herself and she may be in one or two. She can be treated and that treatment is permanent because it gives her cancer-free life. It does not make her to get to stage of cancer, but mind you anybody that has that test done and has been treated still need to keep checking herself continually for every three years or five years. As long as the girl or the lady is sexually active, ideally, it used to be from ages 21 to 65 but now we have ages 17 to 18, but once a lady is exposed to a man, she should start screening.”

The convener of ROFWOL, Mrs Chika- Okafor, who has charted the course of widows, orphans and less privileged for 22 years, decried the huge cost of carrying out a test, stressing that government with its hospitals available everywhere can do a lot to help cervical cancer patients by reducing cost.

Mrs. Chika-Okafor, who is also a medical engineer, urged the government to subsidise the cost and make it free in all government hospitals so that people can be screened free of charge.

Urging corporate organisations in the country to also be involved in the advocacy by investing into it, Mrs. Chika-Okafor said: “The Federal Government can do a lot of things because we have a lot of federal hospitals, it can reduce cost of the test. It is very expensive and not good. They can subsidise the cost and make it free in all government hospitals so that people can be screened free of charge. They can do that by bringing down the cost, not just fuel subsidy; there could be cervical cancer subsidy. The big companies in Nigeria can also put their funds into it. They can take care of the cost as part of their community social responsibility so that people can simply walk into any hospital and get tested, just like calling for promotion of poliomyelitis in children.”

Chika-Okafor, while urging Nigeria to kick out the disease, just like what the World Health Organisation (WHO) is doing, Australia and other countries, narrated how she lost one of her schoolmates last year through cervical cancer.

The convener also spoke on the activities of her Foundation and what she has done for the less privileged over the years to include empowering the poor, widows, giving scholarship to the underprivileged children and donating relief materials to orphanages, physically challenged homes and less privileged women in the society.

Chairman of the event, Dr. Geoffrey Ohen, in his remarks, enjoined everyone to contribute his/her quota to help the ROFWOL foundation achieve its goal and aim of kicking out cervical cancer. While commending the Chika-Okafor family for their philanthropic gesture, the chairman challenged the children to also cultivate the habit of giving like their parents. The event was attended by many personalities including popular singer/songwriter, Onyeka Onwewu, among others.