As the world marks the cervical cancer awareness month this January, the Exquisite Magazine Annual Cervical Cancer (EMAC) has rolled out its events to scale up awareness for the prevention of the disease, which has killed many Nigerian women; and also offer free screening and vaccination.
According to the founder of Exquisite Magazine Cancer Care Foundation, Dr. Tewa Onasanya, EMAC is raising awareness for cervical cancer prevention through its #Smearit campaign.
Onasanya said: “Our aim is to continue to increase the awareness for cervical cancer prevention and also offer free screening for women. It is unacceptable that a form of cancer that is preventable kills one woman every hour in Nigeria.
“The #Smearit challenge was created in 2017 as a fun way for people to understand the importance of early detection via screening to prevent cervical cancer, for women to get screened and tell other women to get screened as well. The foundation also holds an annual Smearathon, which is a day of free screening for women from the ages of 18 and above. During the cervical cancer awareness month and beyond, parents of young girls are also encouraged to get their children vaccinated against the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV).
“This year, EMAC seeks to continue to create more awareness for cervical cancer prevention through the #Smearit challenge and offering free screening to women in certain areas. To make it more exciting, prizes will be given to people who get 10 or more to join the challenge to spread the word about cervical cancer.”
