Fighting breast cancer: Welisane Foundation leads women in sensitisation walk in Yaounde.

The sports walk witnessed the participation of the Deputy Director of United Nations Population Fund, UNFPA, and representatives of other women-led organisations.

Celebrated annually from October 1 to 31, the 2024 edition of the Breast Cancer Awareness Month was observed under the theme: “No one should face breast cancer alone”.

The event aims to encourage individuals to take an active role in their health journey and to create awareness on the existence of breast cancer.

Speaking to the media after the sports walk, Welisane Nkeng maintained that as compared to other years, the number of women getting involved in the awareness campaign has increased and the stigma around the illness is being reduced.

“…many more women are aware of the existence of breast cancer because before, it was like a myth, and there was a lot of stigma around breast cancer. People thought it was witchcraft or something that has been thrown to them from the village,” Welisane explained. 

Acknowledging how far the organisation has gone in the struggle to sensitise women, she added that “now people are aware that there is breast cancer”.

She continued that: “We have seen women taking actions through the free screening. More women are going to screen now. Before, they were afraid that if they find out they have cancer, it will be death sentence but we have come to tell them that breast cancer is not a death sentence”.

Explaining the obstacles faced in the awareness campaign, Welisane disclosed that its being challenging to actually convince the women because of their mindset of the illness.

“There is much work to be done at the level of education but also, we have the challenges of getting many more partners on board to support the course,” she said.

Welisane added that “if we have many more women in decision making tables, we will be able to have more stakeholders because they understand the challenges of breast cancer”.

UN official lauds efforts 

Speaking during the walk, the UNFPA Deputy Representative in Cameroon, Noemi Dalmonte, said breast cancer is amongst the major killers. She said breast cancer is “a very important topic for the UN agencies”.

Appreciating the efforts of Welisane Foundation, the Deputy Representative said “this organisation really deserves to be appreciated because in six or seven years that they have been working on this awareness in Cameroon, the results have been impressive”.

Enter participant 

A participant who spoke to The Guardian Post, said: “I am here today because I know someone very close to me who is suffering from breast cancer. It was dictated early in her and she was able to go for operation…she went through chemotherapy and radiotherapy”.

Advising the population on the illness, the participant added that: “Breast cancer is not something to joke with and early screening saves lives. If you are able to dictate early, then it is a good that is why events like these are so important”.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3269 of Thursday October 24, 2024