Dr Lawal Ishaq, CEO of End Cervical Cancer Nigeria (ECCN), visits the OCI Foundation’s Abuja Gynocular Cancer Centre (05/04/22)

APRIL 5, 2022 (Abuja, Nigeria): The OCI Foundation has hosted Dr Lawal Ishak a Gynaecologist who heads the End Cervical Cancer Nigeria, ECCN. The ECCN is a frontline anti-cancer NGO in Nigeria.

Dr Ishak visted the OCI Foundation’s Gynocular Cancer Centre in Abuja, Nigeria, the site of the Foundation’s free cervical cancer screening service that adopts the GYNOCULAR, a a state-of-the-art digital and portable technology. On ground to welcome hom were three staff of the Centre, including Felicia Dagu, Lovelyn Igbozurike, and Elizabeth Dagu.

The OCI Foundation’s  GYNOCULAR PROJECT offers an advanced and reliable cervical screening test to Nigerians. On February 3, 2022, the OCI Foundation’s Apo PHC Gynocular Center was commissioned by Nigeria’s Honourable Minister for the FCT, Her Excellency, Dr Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu (with details HERE).

The Gynocular Project is part of the OCI Foundation novel anti-cancer health initiative tagged Arm Our Youths (ArOY) Health Campaign targeting all of the 36 states of Nigeria (and the FCT).

The Gynocular has cutting edge optics and LED technology, and can be used in any health setting in the world (both urban and rural). It will be very suitable for remote locations in Nigeria, and can be used by any staff trained to do so, not necessarily medical practitioners. In addition to offering free services to all the states of Nigeria during the ArOY Health Campaign roll outs in the respective states, the OCI Foundation intends to set up  permanent screening centres in its Awka and Abuja locations, where the services will be rendered in an ongoing basis at token fees to Nigerian women, irrespective of their states of origin, tribe, or religious and political affiliations.

It should be noted that the ArOY Campaign is a novel, Harvard-endorsed, WHO-supported, and evidence-based health promotion initiative of the OCI Foundation, which is being introduced across all senior secondary schools in Nigeria as a way of tackling breast and cervical cancers. In September 2019, it was rolled out across all the 261 senior secondary schools in Anambra State of Nigeria, and a similar event, scheduled for Benue State in May 2020, was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  All of Nigeria’s 36 states (and the FCT) are expected to benefit from the ArOY campaign on or before the end of 2025, and the ongoing consultations are part of this whole process.