The First Lady of Nigeria, Senator Remi Tinubu, on behalf of the Renewed Hope Initiative, has pledged One Billion Naira to the National Cancer Fund to fight the scourge of Cervical Cancer in Nigeria.
Mrs. Tinubu made the commitment while receiving a delegation from the National Taskforce on Cervical Cancer Elimination led by the Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Iziaq Adekunle Salako.
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In a statement by her media aide, Busola Kukoyi, the First Lady pointed out that since no one chooses an ailment for themselves, there is no need to be ashamed to seek help.
“I support what you are doing. We are on track, especially with your adopted approach: test, screen, vaccinate, and treat.”
“A healthy nation is a wealthy nation,” Senator Oluremi Tinubu noted, noting that the fight against cancer can be won if patients present early and seek medical intervention.
“The theme for World Health Day this year, Healthy Beginnings; Hopeful Future, I believe is apt for what we do today. I think you said most of my work is 70% in health.
A healthy nation is a wealthy nation. No matter what wealth you have as a nation, if your population or the majority of your population is sick, you are just the poorest as far as I am concerned“.
In his earlier remarks, the Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Iziaq Salako, noted with appreciation the effect of the First Lady’s endorsement of the introduction of the HPV vaccine into the country’s routine immunization program.
He said this translated into the Ministry being able to immunize 12 million girls between ages 9 and 13 in the first nine months of its introduction. Dr Salako said the Ministry hopes to immunize 6 million girls this year.
The Chairman of the Taskforce on Cervical Cancer Elimination and former Minister of Health, Prof. Issac Adewole, thought that the First Lady demonstrated uncommon political will by supporting and flagging off the introduction of the HPV vaccine into the country’s routine immunization program.
He said the eight-by-eight target (immunizing 8 million girls every year) would be achieved, thereby eliminating cervical cancer by 2030, if the First Lady lent her voice and joined the campaign, which will go through 12 states this year and another 12 states next year.
The country representative of the World Health Organization, WHO, Dr. Walter Mulombo, appealed to the First Lady to lead the campaign, noting that every child and woman has a right to live.
The Taskforce on Cervical Cancer Elimination’s visit to the First Lady of Nigeria, Senator Tinubu, also coincided with the commemoration of World Health Day 2025, with the theme “Healthy Beginnings; Hopeful Future.” She was presented with the WHO souvenirs.