Health
THE Lagos State Government has trained no fewer than 200 health workers drawn from 60 public health facilities, including the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), 15 General Hospitals and 44 Primary Health Care Centres, on how to provide breast and cervical cancer screening for citizens.
The eight-day programme was sponsored by the state government, in collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), to increase access to cancer screening services in all state health facilities.
Speaking at the close of the workshop, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Dr Olusegun Ogboye, noted that partnership between the state government and UNFPA on cancer control programmes is geared towards making cancer screening services more accessible and readily available in public health facilities in Lagos.
Ogboye, who was represented by the Director Disease Control in the Lagos State Ministry of Health, Dr Rotimi Agbolagorite, explained that the workshop was part of the partnership to improve access to cancer screening. “The ministry’s efforts to make cancer screening services more accessible and readily available in all state health facilities, has been further strengthened with the recent support from one of our development partners, UNFPA.
“Apart from the capacity building workshop for the 200 state health workers, the Ministry is being supported by UNFPA with the donation of 15,000 units of disposable speculums, 180 pieces couch rolls and 260 pieces of K-Y jelly, which are requisite consumable for the provision of effective breast and cervical cancer screening and management services.”
He added that UNFPA is also supporting the state government to improve community sensitisation on the free breast and cervical cancer screening in 60 designated public health facilities across the state.
The Permanent Secretary said the state government had screened a total of 53,762 women since inception of the free programme in the 60 designated health facilities.
“A total of 53,762 women have been screened since inception, out of which a total of 2,635 representing 4.9 per cent of women screened were screened positive for cervical precancerous lesions and 2,348 (89 per cent) of these positively screened women were treated with thermal ablation and saved from possibly developing cervical cancer in the future. Furthermore, a total of 99 women representing 0.2 per cent of the total women screened were referred with suspicious lesions and possible early stages of cancer, for prompt diagnosis and early treatment which would result in an improved management outcome,” he said.
-The Nation
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Tags: Dr Olusegun Ogboye LASUTH Rotimi Agbolagorite UNFPA
