Daily Champion (Lagos)
Florence Udoh
5 November 2009
LAGOS State First Lady, Mrs. Abimbola Fashola has commended multinational pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) for its leading role in the campaign against cervical cancer in Nigeria pledging that her office would work closely with the company to sustain the campaign and assist in making cervical vaccination more accessible to women to prevent current high incidence of the deadly disease in the country.
Receiving the company's management team led by the Managing Director, Mr. Lekan Asuni in her office at Ikeja recently, Mrs Fashola noted that the company's initiative, especially in the area of screening, vaccination and public awareness campaign would go a long way in alleviating the burden of cervical cancer on women in the state and Nigeria at large.
She disclosed that her office is working closely with the state government to develop a comprehensive programme for cervical cancer prevention, adding that this would also involve active collaboration with GSK and other stakeholders to ensure that more women benefit from the programme.
Mrs Fashola stressed the need for early detection and urged the company to intensify its awareness campaign particularly among young girls both in public and private schools while also urging the company to ensure that the vaccine is available and affordable so that more women and girls would be adequately protected against the scourge.
GSK Managing Director, Mr. Lekan Asuni in his response, thanked the First Lady for her commitment to the health and welfare of women in the state. According to him, GSK is the only pharmaceutical company licensed in Nigeria to market an Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine that protects women against cervical cancer.
Based on this, he said, the company is currently embarking on a massive awareness campaign, capacity building for health professionals, provision of equipment for screening women against cervical cancer and the Human Papillomavirus (HPV), a sexually transmitted disease linked with up to 99 per cent of cervical cancer cases.
Mr. Asuni further commended the First Lady on her proposed project on cervical cancer prevention saying this would help in reducing the burden of the disease in the state. According to him, screening programmes have been acknowledged as effective in reducing the morbidity and mortality from cervical cancer. He pledged the company's support towards the success of the programme.
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