Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has called for a national policy on prevention and eradication of cervical cancer in Nigeria.
The former president made the call at his Penthouse of the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, OOPL, in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, shortly after he was decorated as the presidential ambassador by the Cervical Cancer-Free Nigeria led by Senator Lanre Tejuoso.
Chief Obasanjo stated that both the Federal and State governments must deploy all available resources to fight cervical cancer as they had fought polio, COVID-19 and other diseases.
He urged the Federal government to invest in national-scale procurement and distribution of HPV vaccine to fight Human PapillomaVirus HPV the virus responsible for cervical cancer.
Chief Obasanjo said the HPV vaccine must be available for every Nigeria girl child to prevent the spread of cervical cancer in the country.
In a remarks, Senator Lanre Tejuoso who was the Chairman of the eighth Senate Committee on Health, disclosed that eight thousand women die yearly of Cervical cancer noting that the NGO rallied the former president’s support to the lead the cervical cancer advocacy in Nigeria and at the global scene.
In the team that decorated the former president are the Commissioners for Health in Ogun and Lagos States, Dr Tomi Coker and Prof Akin Abayomi as well as the President of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, Mr. Abimbola Ogunbanjo who vowed to mobilise support of private sector in the fight against the virus.
The body also include Global Oncology (GO), a non-profit foundation and the Legislative Initiative for Sustainable Development LISDEL a grassroots initiative to eliminate cervical cancer in Nigeria.
Wale Oluokun
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