Anambra First Lady Partner WHO to Take Free Cervical Screening Test To Civil Servants
The wife of the governor of Anambra state, Dr. (Mrs.) Nonye Soludo in partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO), over the weekend, organised free Cervical Screening Test for Civil Servants and Public Servants in the state.
The screening which took place yesterday at the State Secretariat Clinic, Awka was in furtherance to the Healthy Living initiative program of Mrs Soludo, who is collaborating with WHO in conducting free Cervical screening tests for thousands of Anambra women.
The free screening was for female civil servants under the state civil service and spouses of male civil servants.
In a brief opening remark, the Anambra State Head of Service, Barr. Theodora Okwy Igwegbe, expressed her joy at seeing the team of Medical experts set up the materials at the Secretariat Complex for the benefit of workers.
Barr. Igwegbe explained that the program was brought to the door step of the state workers at the Secretariat, to avail workers who may be busy and unable to visit other centres for the test, the rare opportunity of getting tested.
She thanked the management of WHO for accepting to carry on with the lofty duty in ensuring the health of her workers.
“I want to salute the thoughtfulness of the wife of the governor, Mrs Soludo for initiating the program for women in the state. It simply shows that she is sensitive to the plight of women as Cervical Cancer is a major challenge for women the world over today.Cervical cancer remained one of the very dangerous terminal diseases that has taken the lives of women.
“The point has also been made consistently, about how early detection can help tackle the disease head-on before it escalates beyond management.
”The good news again is that if anyone is found to have the disease and it is at the early stage, the government in partnership with the WHO will treat them free of charge.
“So, I want to encourage workers to ensure they all got tested as the benefits are enormous,” he said.
Some civil servants present could not hide their joy as they all expressed gratitude to Mrs Soludo for her thoughtfulness in bringing the life saving opportunity to them.
They also applauded the efforts of the Head of Service Barr. Igwegbe for bringing the program closer to them and making the Cervical Screening possible, in spite of their very busy work schedules which was the only way they would not miss out on the opportunity for the free health screening exercise going on in Anambra state.
Recall that the State Ministry of Health had last month revealed plans to make vaccination against strains of Human Papiloma Virus, HPV, which breeds warts that result in sexually transmitted infections that cause cervical cancer and other cancers, free of charge in all government hospitals.
