Photo: Professor Kourouma Sarah Hamdan, the central executive director of the NGO Aicha and the women of Adzopé
Dernère publication 06/11/2024 at 05:51 min
According to a note received, the NGO Aicha (Active Islamic Charitable Humanitarian Association) organized, on Saturday October 19, 2024 in Adzopé, a vast free medical campaign called “The Pink Wave”. It included several activities such as breast and cervical cancer screening in women and girls, HPV vaccination for girls aged 9 to 14, diabetes and hypertension screening in adults. men and women.
All this was accompanied by a collection of blood bags. On this occasion, Professor Kourouma Sarah Hamdan, the Central Executive Director of the NGO Aicha said that the month of October is dedicated worldwide to the fight against breast cancer. “This cancer is the most common in our country and mainly affects women. It is a serious and fatal disease that threatens 1 in 8 women. Three thousand new cases are detected each year in Côte d’Ivoire with unfortunately a high mortality rate of 58%. It is the deadliest cancer in our country. And yet, if detected early, this serious illness can be completely cured. Hence, the importance of systematic screening of women from the age of 25, or even 20,” advised the executive director.
She said that cervical cancer is the second deadliest cancer in Côte d’Ivoire and can be cured when detected early. She clarified that there is an effective vaccine that can prevent this cancer and this vaccine must be administered to little girls aged 9 to 14 in order to protect them when they become women.
She lamented that, alongside these two cancers, there are two other diseases that kill silently: diabetes and high blood pressure. This is why she recommended screening, to help detect and treat these diseases at an early stage to avoid fatal complications such as stroke or diabetic comas. Kourouma Sarah Hamdan encouraged women in Adzopé to come and get tested.
Professor Koné Zakaria, secretary general of the NGO, recalled that this free screening campaign is organized each year by the NGO. He said that the NGO’s slogan “Support to Relieve” respects the precepts of the Prophet Muhammad who said: “The men who please Allah the most are those who are useful to others.”
The NGO Aicha was created in 2019 by a group of young Muslim executives who noted the lack of social support for the most vulnerable in society.
Mamadou Ouattara
Health
