KAPWEPWE WARD KICKS OFF CANCER AWARENESS CAMPAIGN
By MUKOSELA KASALWE MATERO’s Kapwepwe ward has started an awareness campaign against cancer through teaching young boys and girls about the causes and treatment of the ailment, says Patriotic Front councillor Patrick Salubusa.
Mr Salubusa said Kapwepwe ward kick started its cancer awareness campaign by teaching young boys and girls about the causes, symptoms and treatment of cancer. In an interview yesterday, Mr Salubusa said super model and cancer activist Sipiwe Benasho was in Kapwepwe ward’s Lilanda Site 5 at his invitation where she shared more information about breast cancer, cervical cancer, prostate cancer and child cancer.
Ms Benasho said in order to curb cancer there was need to promote and advocate for early detection and treatment, and she emphasised that if detected in the early stages, there was a 95 percent chance of being cured.
‘‘To help curb cancer we are promoting and advocating for early detection and treatment, if detected in the early stages, there is a 95 percent chance of being cured,’’ Ms Benasho said.
The model and entrepreneur informed the gathering that cancer was the second leading cause of death in children aged 1 to 14 years in Zambia after malaria.
Ms Benasho has announced that her foundation the Sipiwe Benasho Foundation would soon identify children infected and/or affected by cancer in Kapwepwe Ward 25 and finance their education requirements starting in January 2018.
She encouraged the boys who are not yet circumcised to do so, saying boys should play a role in preventing cervical cancer especially that Zambia had the highest incidence of cervical cancer after Tanzania in Africa and sixth in the world.
Mr Salubusa took advantage of the sensitisation exercise to announce that male circumcision had started at Lilanda Sub Clinic. He said Lilanda Clinic was just a sub clinic but that it would soon be upgraded into a full-fledged clinic and that male circumcision was being carried out and he encouraged boys to take advantage of the health facility.
And in a vote of thanks Girls Brigade Zone Six District Adjudant Astridah Nkonde thanked the councillor for bringing cancer awareness closer to the people but quickly encouraged both the councillor and Ms. Benasho to extend the exercise to all the corners of Kapwepwe Ward 25.