First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa officially opened an early cervical cancer detection and treatment centre at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals in Harare where women will be screened for free in a move aimed at fighting the silent killer.
The Chinese government, through Hunan Provincial Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital, partnered with the Ministry of Health and Child Care and donated the equipment to be used.
The First Lady, who was on Monday appointed Health and Child Care Ambassador, has been leading in the fight against cancer urging women to get tested for cervical and breast cancer.
She led by example when she got screened for cervical and breast cancer at United Bulawayo Hospitals (UBH), as a way of motivating women to do the same.
Her awareness campaigns saw over 100 000 women undergoing cervical cancer screening last year.
Officiating the event yesterday, the First Lady urged women to take advantage of the newly opened clinical camp and get screened early.
“I salute the collaborative efforts by the two sister hospitals — Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals and Hunan Provincial Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital — in alleviating the scourge of cervical cancer which, according to statistics from the Zimbabwe Cancer Registry, is the most common cancer among women,” she said.
“Today is a significant day for me as I witness two great hospitals from different parts of the world walking the talk in addressing this global health challenge.
“As such, I would like to commend the kind gesture made by China through Hunan Provincial Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital to continue partnering Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals in this noble cause.
“I have also noted that Harare tops the provinces in terms of the number of women with confirmed cervical cancer. It is therefore befitting that this screening and treating camp is done here at an institution in Harare,” she said.
The First Lady thanked the Chinese government for donating the equipment.
“I would like to appreciate the equipment that you donated to this organisation and other resources that you have channelled towards this programme.
“The developed world has managed to reduce the incidents of cervical cancer through the use of cytology-based screening, a great breakthrough and one of modern medicines.
“Of the 275 000 cervical cancer deaths recorded globally annually, 85 percent occur in developing countries. Our efforts in the Third World to replicate similar results have not taken us anywhere near our wishes due to a number of reasons among them lack of resources.”
Health and Child Care Minister Dr Obadiah Moyo said he was happy that cervical cancer, which is a dreaded non-communicable disease among women, was receiving much attention in the country.
“I want to assure you that my ministry will continue to fight this scourge and we shall not relent in this fight,” he said.
“This is the third time in three consecutive years that such a clinical camp has been held at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals and we hope that this phase will see over 3 000 women being screened and some receiving the necessary treatment.
“I am happy that the First Lady continues to distinguish herself in the area of health and child care. We are proud of her good work.”
Speaking at the same event, Chinese Ambassador to Zimbabwe Mr Guo Shaochun said: “In response to the call for assisting in health delivery in developing countries including Zimbabwe, President Xi Jinping announced at the 2015 UN Sustainable Development Summit that China will implement 100 maternal and child health projects in developing countries, especially in Africa.
“This commitment is echoed by the presence of the First Lady Amai Auxillia Mnangagwa today whose devotion in women and children’s welfare has strengthened our faith in contributing towards Zimbabwe’s public health undertakings.”
Source – MbareTimes
