Lagos, Nigeria – The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), in partnership with Sebeccly Cancer Care, provided free breast and cervical cancer screening, and prostate cancer screening for female and male participants respectively at the 2019 NSE Corporate Challenge which held on Saturday, July 6, 2019, at Muri-Okunola Park, Victoria Island, Lagos.
The NSE Corporate Challenge, a one-day competitive and fun-filled 5 kilometer walk, jog and run event, has since inception in 2014, been a vehicle for creating awareness on the early detection of cancer and raising funds to support the fight against the dreadful disease in Nigeria.
Speaking at the event, Mr. Bola Adeeko, Divisional Head, Shared Services, NSE said, “this year, the Exchange took the fight against cancer a step further by providing on-site cancer screening and treatment in the form of colposcopy, cryotherapy and histology for participants with identified irregularities. Over 110 participants were screened for breast, cervical and prostate cancer at the venue of the NSE Corporate Challenge. This is an initiative we plan to continue implementing throughout the year, in partnership with our technical implementation partners”.
Dr Omolara Salako, Executive Director, Sebeccly Cancer Care, said, “Nigeria records over 100,000 new cancer cases each year, with most cases coming to medical attention when the disease has advanced to level 3 or 4, leaving patients with slim chances of survival. The spread of the disease and resulting low survival rate can largely be attributed to low awareness of the disease, lack of access to screening services and the prohibitive cost of treatment. We at Sebeccly Cancer Care are glad to have partnered with NSE to provide a focused cancer awareness drive and screening programme for participants at the 6th edition of the NSE Corporate Challenge.”
“Participants were screened using comprehensive onsite cancer screening and treatment program (TimeToScreen) which leverages on data and research while the oncopadi app was deployed as a follow up tool for individuals with screening abnormalities”, she added.
The event, which recorded over 800 participants, received support in form of sponsorship from corporate organisations such as Stanbic IBTC, Dangote Cement Plc, Beta Glass Plc, FCMB, MTN Nigeria, FBN Holdings, IHS Towers, Transcorp, Fidelity Bank Plc, UBA, SAHCO, AIICO Plc, CSCS Plc, Seplat, EKEDC and Sterling Bank Plc.