The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) said that over 40 women from different Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps in Borno benefited from its one-week free cancer screening/treatment programme.
Air Commodore Olatokunbo Adesanya, Director of Public Relations and Information, made this known in a statement on Saturday in Abuja.
According to him, the exercise was held at the newly established NAF Cancer Screening Centre at 109 Composite Group in Maiduguri from May 16 to 20.
He said that it was in fulfilment of the pledge earlier made by the Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, to extend healthcare delivery to less privileged, particularly in IDPs camps.
“The screening covered cancer of the breast, cervix, ovaries, colon and liver, was also extended to NAF personnel and their dependants.
“The screening and treatment were conducted by NAF medical personnel, who had earlier received in-house training as part of the capacity-building efforts of the NAF leadership.
“The screening methods used by NAF medical personnel include: colposcopy, ultra-sound, mammogram and laboratory test of various tumor markers,” he said.
Adesanya said that during the screening those detected with early stages of cancer of the cervix were promptly treated, free of charge, using colonoscopy.
He said that the women from the IDPs camps equally took advantage of the opportunity to examine other key aspects of their health status at no cost.
The CAS had reassured the IDPs and other members of the public that the exercise would be a continuous one.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that CAS had promised during the 2016 week training of healthcare practitioners by NAF Medical Services that “the cervical screening facilities at NAF Hospital, Abuja, would be provided in other hospitals across the country’’.
