Kebbi gov’s wife leads cancer walk in Abuja
The wife of the Governor of Kebbi State and the founder of Medicaid Cancer Foundation (MCF), Dr Zainab Shinkafi Bagudu, will on Saturday lead a five kilometres annual one million-walk away cancer fundraiser in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja. Dr Bagudu, who spoke on Friday on the activities of the foundation established 10 years […]
The wife of the Governor of Kebbi State and the founder of Medicaid Cancer Foundation (MCF), Dr Zainab Shinkafi Bagudu, will on Saturday lead a five kilometres annual one million-walk away cancer fundraiser in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.
Dr Bagudu, who spoke on Friday on the activities of the foundation established 10 years ago, said the walk was also meant to increase cancer awareness and promote better chance of survival from the disease.
The Paediatric Consultant, who said the walk had been endorsed by the Board of the Nigerian Tourism and Culture, added that the motive was to also encourage people to imbibe the culture of exercise.
“We want to get free from cancer. We want to walk away from cancer. We have people as far away as Portugal who are walking this year.
“We can reduce the body of cancer by half through increased awareness and achieve the global target to reduce cancer by 25 per cent by the year 2025.
“We raised N40 million last year. We hope to raise more than that this year to cater for indigent cancer patients. I will like to encourage people to come for the walk,” she also said.
She added, “From awareness, we now offer discounted screening and diagnosis. This leads to treatment. The treatment of cancer is not cheap because it is a very complicated disease. It needs money to treat it and somebody has to pay for it. So, we raise funds. We tax ourselves. We go to governments and corporate bodies.”
Speaking on the foundation, Dr Bagudu said the MCF funds diagnosis and treatment of the common cancers in Nigeria.
She said the foundation used School Health Program to educate secondary school students on cancers and sickle cell; Traditional Rulers Advocacy Initiative to make the royal fathers the champions of the cancer awareness campaign, and the annual summit to improve survivorship.
Dr Bagudu, who voiced readiness to establish branches in the six geo-political zones apart from the Abuja office, underscored the need for governments at all levels to take a political decision to stop the spread of cancers.
She identified state health insurance plan as a major panacea to the scourge of cancer, tackling the prevalence of the disease required big health spending.