The founder of the Smile with Me Foundation (SMF), Dr. Chioma Nwakanma, has said that vaccinating women against cervical cancer and health education is necessary for better awareness and prevention of the disease.

Nwakanma, making her statement at a cervical cancer awareness and vaccination exercise, said ‘In prevention, health education is topmost. Some people say, [in] common [parl]ance, prevention is better than cure. It is somehow underrated because it is reality, especially in Nigeria. People need to be aware of what they can do personally to prevent diseases’.

She went on to further explain that ‘cervical cancer is a disease that affects the neck of the womb and [i]s 100 percent preventable’. The expert lamented the fact that people are dying from vaccine-preventable diseases. She urged females aged nine to 26 years to get the Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine. She said women from ages 26 to 45 could still get vaccinated. She advised women who have a family history of cancer, on the maternal side especially, to get screened and vaccinated.

The Smile with Me Foundation is a health education and health aid centred non-governmental organisation. The foundation’s mission is to reduce Nigeria’s mortality rate drastically using health education and healthcare aids as tools. Since its establishment in August 2017, the Smile with Me Foundation has screened over 5,000 women in Nigeria. It maintains an active presence in Abia, Ebonyi, Lagos and Imo States as well as in Abuja.

Nwakanma called on women living with cancer to be strong and not give up hope as there is still hope. She encouraged them to enjoy time and people around them.

Source: This Day Live

Photo source: Kristin Wall