Lagoon Hospitals Walk To Promote Breast Cancer Awareness

Chioma Umeha 

Lagos – Nigerian women die of breast cancer due to lack of access to accurate information, affordable screening, and treatment options.

To this effect, the World Health Organisation in its 2014 reports recommended increased awareness, equitable access to early diagnosis and timely, effective, and affordable treatment needed globally.

Breast cancer is currently one of the leading causes of death among women even as research shows that late detection is a major factor.

Every year, the month of October is used for breast cancer awareness to support women battling with breast cancer. Women are also educated and advised on early detection with free cancer screening done for all women/

Lagoon Hospitals, one of Nigeria’s leading healthcare facility, recently conducted a Breast Cancer Walk in its immediate environs in commemoration of the International Breast Cancer Awareness Month

The goal of breast cancer awareness Walk was to raise the public’s awareness for breast cancer, its detection, its treatment, and the need for a reliable, permanent cure.

The 6.8km walk held on October 27, 2018., starting and ending at the Lagoon Hospitals Ikoyi facility. After the Walk, a Medical Outreach was conducted with a short talk on Breast Cancer and the essence of early detection by Dr. Ajibike Oyewumi, the Clinical Director for Lagoon Hospitals. Participants had the opportunity to examine breast moulds, and free breast cancer screenings were conducted for the women participants.

The CEO of Lagoon Hospitals, Mr. Rajeev Bhandari, commented, “We are delighted to hold such an event in honour of the breast cancer awareness month and to create awareness about the disease. Early detection is key, and as the leading healthcare service provider in Nigeria, we take it as our duty to educate the public, while also encouraging people to get screened.”

The Mr. Franklyn Ovbigbahon, Head of Business Development, Lagoon Hospitals, says, “We believed the Breast Cancer Walk would be a powerful and inspiring opportunity to unite with the community to educate and raise awareness in a fun but also intentional way.

“We understand breast cancer screenings can be costly and we felt the free breast cancer screenings conducted after the walk, would be a great way to make the screening more inclusive and accessible.

“Whatever your age it’s so important to get to know your breasts, and if you do spot anything unusual – be it a lump or redness – it is important to get it checked out by a doctor immediately. Currently, to make the service even more accessible, we have a 50 per cent discount on our Mammogram and Breast Scan services running till the end of November.”

Lagoon Hospitals has successfully pioneered ground-breaking medical achievements, most recently with a free surgery provided for a young boy with subdural empyema as part of its CSR activities.

In 2011, Lagoon Hospitals made history by becoming the first Hospitals in Sub-Saharan Africa to earn accreditation from Joint Commission International (JCI), the worldwide leader in improving the quality of health care through voluntary accreditation.