By Amos Odeh, Yenagoa
Wife of the Ondo State governor, Chief Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu, has urged women to conduct regular checks on their breasts to prevent the mortality rate associated with breast cancer in the country.
Mrs Akeredolu, who is founder of Breast Cancer Association of Nigeria (BRECAN), stated this in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State capital on Saturday, when she joined the state chapter of the association on an awareness walk tagged ‘Jog for Life’ as part of the activities to inaugurate the chapter.
According to the Ondo First Lady, whose group, BRECAN is embarking on Breast Cancer Awareness campaigns in states across the country, “Breast cancer is not deadly as women think, but early detection and prompt medical attention can cure the disease, thereby reducing the rate of mortality.
She said: “I survived breast cancer, awareness leads to action and we don’t want awareness to die, breast cancer is curable if you do the needful.
“We can’t get tired talking to women about what they should do. They should check their breasts, carry out breast examination regularly, doing this gives power to detect anything that has gone wrong with the breast. If regular checking is not done, there is no way they can notice unusual changes in the breast.
“If you notice any unusual changes such as lumps, discharge from nipples whether watery or bloody, if you are not breastfeeding, there is no reason there should be discharge from the nipples, these signs are red flag that something is wrong, go to the hospital for medical checkup.
“I want to assure everybody today more women are surviving breast cancer even here in Bayelsa State,” she said.
Bayelsa State governor’s wife, Mrs Gloria Diri, who joined the breast cancer awareness walk, promised to key into the sensitization and ensure that women from the communities in the state are properly sensitized on preventive measures against increasing mortality rate from breast cancer.