Leah Charity Foundation, whose founding trustee is the wife of the Governor of Kwara State, Mrs. Omolewa Ahmed, staged a road show in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, against cancer, writes OLUKOREDE YISHAU

They called it a road show but what the Leah Charity Foundation staged in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital on February 6 can be better described as some kind of city storming. Its founding trustee, who is also wife of the Governor of Kwara State, Mrs. Omolewa Ahmed, members of staff of the foundation and hundreds of volunteers marched round the nooks and crannies of Ilorin.

It was in continuation of the commemoration of the 2014 edition of the World Cancer Day, which held two days earlier. The train departed the Government Reservation Area office of the Leah Cancer Centre, a facility which set up to reduce the burden of cancer amongst women at about 9.00am in the morning, it returned just a little before 6pm after nine hours of intense walking, dancing, talking and canvassing for collective action against the ravaging tendencies of breast and cervical cancer in the lives of women.

With the loud music that accompanied the team, it was impossible for anyone not to notice that some people were on a mission in their neighbourhood, especially as the songs from this 30-minute album which was repeatedly played were written and recorded by some of the popular folk artistes in the city. And to even make it better, artistes were part of the convoy.

From GRA, the long advocacy convoy moved to Post Office where it stopped and spread all over to distribute fliers and compact discs of the 30-minute album that have been put together by the non-governmental organisation. The wife of the governor was at the head of the campaign. She would accost this passer-by here and walked into the shop here. She talked to women and spoke to men on the need to encourage their wives to present themselves for early screening as a sure means of saving any life that may be at the risk of breast or cervical cancer.

Sometimes, Ahmed would dance and sing along with the artistes as the songs conveyed all the message that the town storming carried with it. At other times, she would start with a prayer that the Almighty One would not allow disease to come near her listener and as people gather rather to hear what the governor’s wife might want to say to this young person that she is talking to, she would tighten the noose. “Although we do not pray that any one comes down with cancer, but I want you to know that cancer is not a death sentence and the only way to ensure that everyone is free from cancer is to go and screen. Early detection is the only way to save people from untimely death due to cancer and I am begging you all, my mothers, my sisters, my friends and children to please go on and check yourselves” Ahmed would say.

She would then go ahead to explain that the foundation has opened screening centres in a number of locations within the metropolis. These include the Children Specialist Hospital, Centre Igboro, Adewole Cottage Hospital and the Sobi Specialist Hospital. She would explain further that there is another Leah Screening Centre in GRA and that anyone whose case needs any form of referral would be sent to the Leah Cancer Centre for more screening and possible intervention. This message was the same that the album distributed as the campaign moved on carried.

Speaking about the Leah Foundation initiative in an interview later, Mrs Ahmed said that her passion for work came out of mixture of inspiration from God, promptings from respected people as well as the loss of some close people to the disease. She identified that the fact that the fatal likelihood of this disease can be tackled with early detection gave her the hope that “we can collectively work together to champion the cause of life for our women. We must all say no to avoidable deaths”

She explained the procedure as follows: “ We encourage all women to visit our screening centres at Sobi Specialist Hospital, Adewole Cottage Hospital and Children Specialist Hospital Centre Igboro, Ilorin, with the payment of N200,000, they can have a cervical test conducted . They will also do breast examination and equally teach them how to do self-breast examinations on monthly basis.

For anyone with traces of cervical cancer, she will be given referral note to the Leah Cancer Centre, where we have a new therapy that we call Chero therapy. It is used to nip cervical cancer in the bud. The Leah Cancer Centre is located along Abdulkareem Adisa Road, adjoining Trinity School GRA, Ilorin.

She said: “Some people will need to go for further screening and the popular one we are used to is Pap Smear test. We have highly improved laboratory, where we can have it done. After that, you will see a gynaecologist. We have technical supports from gynaecologists who come regularly to the centre, in order to see our patients. Where the gynecologist looks at the result and there is still a further need for more tests, he will order for it. We also have a machine for that. After this, if the patient needs surgery, we will now refer her to the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH) or Sobi Specialist Hospital, Ilorin. The procedure is the same for breast cancer patients. If you need mammography done, you will be referred to the Leah Centre where we have the mammogram machine after that, if you will need a biopsy, we also do that at the Centre. If it is ultrasound test we also have ultrasound machine at the Centre. And if a woman needs a full blown treatment, she will also be referred to UITH or Sobi.

Currently, these centres have been collectively visited for screening by about 3,500 women. 240 of these were said to have had lumps in their breasts with 30 cases of full blown breast cancer and five with cervical cancer, “that had gone beyond redemption.”

Ten women are said to have undergone Cryotherapy, just as 50 women had been referred to University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH), Ilorin for the removal of lumps in their breasts..

Explaining that the road show would be repeated in the two remaining senatorial districts, Ahmed said that she looked forward to the time in the very near future when the Leah Cancer Centre would be in a position to treat patients without having to refer them to any hospital. She appealed to Nigerians and corporate organisation to partner with the foundation toward achieving this important task.