 And we're back with the Breakfast in Plustivia Africa. Time for us to talk about something very sensitive and it's cancer. Well, the conversation around cancer can never be overemphasized, and that's because cancer is the second leading cause of death worldwide, with 30 million cancer deaths annually. Now, more than 40% of cancer-related deaths could be preventable as they are linked to modifiable risk factors, such as smoking, alcohol use, poor diet and physical inactivity. Well, cancer day is usually in February and it aims to promote awareness about cancer as a public health issue and to also strengthen action towards improving access to quality care, screening, early dictation, treatment and palliative care. The theme for the 2023 marks the second year of the campaign that says close the care gap, which is about understanding the inequalities in cancer care and taking action to make the necessary progress to address them. We have to unite to close the gap in cancer care and joining us this morning for this discussion is Tewa Onassoya, I hope I got that well, founder Esquizet Magazine Cancer Care Foundation right here in Lagos. Tewa, it's good to have you join us. Good morning. It's great to be here. Good morning. Yes, please. All right, so quickly bring us up to speed. The Fourth of February, it's an annual event and why exactly is the state very important and why do we have to talk about this every other February? Right, okay. So World Cancer Day is the Fourth of February and it has been celebrated for so many years now. I can't remember the exact year, but it is a day where the world comes together to have one voice, so to speak, to talk about all the different cancers. I'm sure you know that different cancers have different awareness months, like January is cervical cancer awareness month. I think February is something to do with children cancer awareness month as well and then it goes on. So February 4th, a day where everybody comes together, we talk about the theme, the theme of the year being close the gap for cancer care, not only in Nigeria, but globally as well. So yeah, on the Fourth of February, everybody comes together, whatever cancers you're... I say whatever cancers you're particular about because every World Cancer Day, we only talk about cervical cancer because there are other organizations and other people that talk about all the other cancers anyway, but every year, Fourth of February, we're singing the song of raising awareness for the different cancers and making sure that people know their choices. So let's talk about the different cancers just before February comes in now. So we have different cancers. Which one? I know that the one that's very prominent is breast cancer. Yes, everybody talks about breast cancer like it's the only cancer that affects women, but it isn't. We, so at the Exquisite Magazine Cancer Care Foundation, we're always saying that not all cancers are pink, till is the color for cervical cancer and would you believe that every single day, 26 women die in Nigeria of cervical cancer? That's like roughly one woman every hour from a cancer that is preventable. So our mission is to make sure women know about cervical cancer, because some women, even as a last week, someone was asking us if she has a cervix, a woman that has gone to university, learned if you understand what I mean. So the awareness level is very low. So cervical cancer is the cancer of the cervix, which is the one we talk about more about because it's one of the few cancers that is 100% preventable. When I say 100%, that means if it's caught early, the person can be treated and nothing's gonna happen. And even if it's, even if the person has pre-cancer cells, it's one of the few cancers that actually shows you, okay, I'm coming, no, you know, start taking precaution type thing, it has a pre-cancer stage. And pre-cancer cells can be treated, but it's when it gets to the full blown cancer that it now becomes a big problem. So our aim is to just let people know that it's out there, it's killing women needlessly and people need to get screened. All right, you talked about the fact that it's been going for a lot of decades now. Yeah, the work has been. And I think 1933, first thing she did about World Health Organization, and God knows who we were, where we were in the early three. But close to care gap has been the theme for the past three years. I mean, last year we sat here in Mercy and we talked about close to care gap or closing the care gap as well. What does it mean when we say closing the care gap? So we can understand it, get into the spirit of the celebration of the year. And why has it been, you think necessary to keep that theme on for the past three years? So from my perspective, I think it's the fact that, like you said earlier, 40% of the cancers are preventable. And a lot of people are not, they're not aware or even going out there to be health conscious or be health wise. And when we say close and the gap, there's so many cancers that people shouldn't be dying off. So we wanna make sure that we're closing that care gap where people have access to free screening, even if it's not free screening, at least getting screened. People have access to information, people have access to vaccines because there are some vaccines that can prevent some cancers, like the cervical cancer, you know. And then there's also the bias towards women. I know you're a runner, you're probably thinking, oh yeah, we've pulled out the gender card again. But then again, seriously, in some parts all over the world, men get access to healthcare, now women do. So we want to be able to make sure that everyone has a free and fair access. We have a mother in child hospitals. I don't see a father in some hospitals, but I understand what you mean, I understand. That was a light time. But yeah, so we see a lot of, you're talking about screening, for instance. We see a lot of facilities input by state governments across the states. I can look at the one that, WK, yes, WK is an accident. See, the government of Riverside recently did. We are in the name of, he told me, who's himself a medical doctor, cancer screening and care center. You know, we have screening centers that love general hospitals around the country. Yeah. So is this still a problem to get screened in Nigeria? It's still a big problem. The awareness is still very, very low. So we have different stages of problems, so to speak. It's the number of screening centers that are available and the number of people actually going for the screening. Even we that organize free screening, it's still a struggle sometimes to get people to come out for the free screening because some of them would say, oh, I'd rather eat than go for a health check or go for a screening or things like that. So the awareness is very low and people are not readily going out there, but people have to understand the fact that prevention is way better than cure, way, way better. And if screenings are being done and if they're going, if there are any free screenings available and they're going for it, it's better to know what's happening to your body than to know when it's now too late and even more expensive because cancer treatments, especially in Nigeria, is very expensive and not that easily accessible as well. So yes, there are some, and I'm gonna say some centers because yes, there are quite a number of centers but they're not that many. Considering the number of people in Nigeria were over 200 million and you can count the number of cancer centers in Nigeria. On our website, we have a list of some of the cancer centers that you can get your screening done and treatments and things like that. What's the website? They're not that many. Our website is www.SmareItAfrica.com. Smare as in S-M-E-A-R and I-T.com, Smare It.com. We have a list there and you would think that, I mean, we would like for the list to be extensive. You know, we're talking Lagos. Lagos is almost 20 million people. We have thousands of centers, but you know, we have a few. So I mean, in trying to understand, you know, what the challenge here is that we don't have enough awareness as to all of this, could it be a policy deficiency? Like we don't have enough policy in the direction. What exactly could be responsible for this lack of awareness? I'm not sure I should say policy because I mean, we have the ministries and the different governmental organizations that are trying to be health conscious and putting the message out there. I think it's a case of it not being enough. It's a case of it not being enough and people are, you know, just people are dying but they don't really care about, you know, health, no, I'd rather eat type of thing. You know, we're in a culture where people would rather eat than know what's going on with their bodies. So I think it's two ways. It's people being aware of the publicity being out there and also people actually taking advantage of wherever they see anything happening. When I talk about awareness, I'm talking about, you know, in January, the noise should be everywhere and even all through the year, doctors should be telling their patients, do you know about XYZ, go and get screened. If you're not screening at our center, do you know, you know, here's a list of where you can go. The government should also be, you know, sending messages out there to everybody to go on. It's a case of us all being our sisters and brothers keepers, so to speak. And we say, you know, I said earlier that cervical cancer color is teal. So we put it, we change the acronym to tell every awesome lady about cervical cancer. So if I'm speaking to you, I'm telling you about it, you're telling the next person, so we're telling as many people as possible. But then again, it's information. We can't say that the whole world will hear about it. We just have to keep going and not stop. We're looking at, you know, the fact that one of the greatest ways to eradicate or to prevent, you know, deaths from cancer, like you said, we're dying from cervical cancer. It's education. So what do people out there need to know about cancer? We talk about this every year, but we can't talk about it enough, like you're saying. So let's look at the causes of cancer, the risk factors, and what people can do to ensure that they stay alive. Yeah. The number one thing I would say is cancer is no respecter of person. Rich, poor, you know, girl, boy, man, woman, tall, short, do you understand what I mean? It's no respecter of person. Young people. Yeah, you've got people that are early 20s getting cervical cancer. You're thinking, what happened here? Even last year, and last week, I was speaking to a lady that got diagnosed of breast cancer at 26. So it's not like, it's not a case of, oh, it's a former, it's a, cancer happens to people that are older. No, you get children getting leukemia. That's, you know, blood cancer. So people just need to be aware that our diet, our physical activity, our, you know, our social activities as well, smoking, non-smoking, you know, even, I just imagine there was sex on radio, but, you know, sexual. Intercourse. Intercourse, yeah, I think all of those things are kind of like risk factors. You know, speaking from a cervical cancer perspective, for instance, cervical cancer is caused by HPV virus, which is, you know, that lives harmlessly in men. And then when a certain strain gets into the woman, then it starts replicating at an alarming rate. So that's through sexual contact. Breast cancer, for instance, you know, we have different indicators for breast cancer. People talk, they talk about, you know, people that smoke, ladies that smoke a lot and things like that. But all of these things can be avoided if we're screening and self-testing ourselves. Self-testing for breast cancer, not cervical cancer. Oh well, we have to go now. And unfortunately, we have run out of time and then usually when you have conversations like this, you only hope that you have enough time to talk about this. But we would definitely not stop. And we commend what your organization is doing. Thank you. And we ask that you continue to do the good work of people right here to always support about that. But unfortunately, you said the Foundation has some outreaches. Are you having an outreaches time? Yes. How can people take advantage of what you're doing? Of what we're doing. Okay, so on Saturday, when we did the World Cancer Day work for cervical cancer, we screened ladies free. And we have a mandate to screen as many people this quarter. So if you go to our website, www.smaritafrica.com, you will get information of what the next screenings are going to happen. And they are free screening. So you should tell every awesome lady about cervical cancer prevention. So that has everything. We have an Instagram page as well at imac underscore cervical cancer prevention. And all the information are there. Nothing for the men. Men. We can take it over ourselves. So our partners, our partners, the Dose and Mobility Foundation, they are big on prostate cancer. So men that are over 40, look for the, you know, go to search the Dose and Mobility Foundation, you'll find information about their next cancer screening points. And they have a mobile blog post as well. So they drive to different locations and screen men. And men, please go out. Because 8 out of 10 men could potentially get prostate cancer. But men are afraid of going to the hospital. They are afraid of getting screened. Nobody wants to go to the hospital. Coffee. What's that? Oh, colonoscopy. But for men, it's easy for prostate cancer to test for prostate cancer. Because all they need to do is do a prick on your finger to check your sugar level. We have to. Thank you very much. Awesome, awesome. Thank you very much. Teller, we have to go. Thank you so much for being part of the conversation this morning. We have been speaking with Tewa Ona Sonia, founder, exquisite, magazine, cancer foundation, right here, cancer care foundation in Lagos. Thank you so much for being part of the conversation. We appreciate your time. All right, then. And that's the size of our package right here on the project. Tomorrow with more right here on PLUS TV Africa. The news of night is up next. Hope you get yourself some narrow notes today. Keep watching. And I am Meso Bocco to have a great morning.