NGO to inaugurate cancer awareness football competition
The UnTold Story Behind The Story Foundation, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) says it will inaugurate its cancer awareness football competition to join the first kick against childhood cancer in Africa.
Ms Prominent Monday-Odin, Executive Director of the foundation said this in an interview on Friday in Abuja.
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Monday-Odin said that the activity was part of its organisations effort to create awareness on childhood cancer and to commemorate the World Cancer Day, 2020.
World Cancer Day is an international day marked on Feb. 4 to raise awareness of cancer and to encourage its prevention, detection and treatment.
It is led by the Union for International Cancer Control to support the goals of the World Cancer Declaration, 2008.
“The competition would kick off on Feb. 15 with a novelty football march between Medical Strikers and Potters Strikers at the Elohim Christian Centre Football Field, Gwagwalada, Abuja.
“The match would be followed by a Kung Fu Art, spoken words renditions and a dance to create awareness on childhood cancer.
“The entire activities are in line with our organisations’ activities to creating awareness on childhood cancer, beaming the light on ways to detect, the signs and symptoms,’’ she said.
Monday-Odin said that the fastest, quickest and most important step to take upon detection of traits of cancer in children was to seek medical help without delay.
She advised parents to set aside both traditional and spiritual beliefs and to also refrain from the use of traditional or native medications.
According to her, the few cases of childhood cancer that we have handled were wrongly managed by parents upon detection due to lack of knowledge, ignorance, negligence, self medications and use of traditional concoctions.
“When our foundation was contacted to intervene in some childhood cancer cases, we discovered that the children involved were exposed to all sorts of herbal treatment that worsened their conditions.
“At this stage, medical persons were left with little or not much medical help to proffer or administer to the affected children and this sadly led to death,’’ she said.
She encouraged parents and guardians to imbibe the habits of conducting routine medical tests on their children and wards in order to prevent late detection of cancer and other childhood diseases.
(NAN)
