Take cancer messages to youths—Mayor Jomo

Blantyre City Mayor Isaac Jomo Osman last week called upon healthcare workers to intensify dissemination of cervical and breast cancer messages to the youth and children. Speaking in Blantyre when he launched The Net, a 1.8 million euro (about K4 billion) women’s cancer prevention project to strengthen women’s health governance in Malawi and Italy, he said there is need to include initiatives that engage young women and girls. “It is very important that we should come up with an initiative in the villages to support women football so that when the girls are playing football they can share knowledge and understand what cancer is,” said Osman.

He said there is need to change the approach from sharing cancer messages with adults to sharing it with the youth. “We need to change our approach. We need to start sharing the message with the youth.

We have a lot of youth networks in Blantyre. Through our office we can link you up with the youth,” said the mayor. Italy-based Felcos Umbria vice-president Lucia Maddoli said her organisation is pleased to join other organisations in Malawi for the attainment of women’s health.

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“We have a common goal of safeguarding women’s lives while strengthening the prevention of women’s cancer,” she said. Maddoli said they are in Malawi to share experiences, skills and knowledge gained in cancer prevention. She said the project will support Blantyre District Health Office in strengthening the strategic plan for preventing cancer in women, rolling out a new cancer screening campaign, mobile clinics and providing specialised training to healthcare workers in Blantyre. Blantyre district director of health ans sanitation services Gift Kawalazila said the project has come at a time when Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital is managing about 2 000 women’s cancer cases representing 35 percent of the cancer cases managed by the facility.

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