ABUJA GYNOCULAR CANCER CENTRE: Final Training (Pics & Videos) for OCI Foundation team members post-commissioning (25/03/22)

MARCH 25, 2022 (Abuja, Nigeria): The OCI Foundation held a final training rehearsal for its Abuja staff, ahead of the commencement of the free cervical cancer screening service adopting the GYNOCULAR, a a state-of-the-art digital and portable technology.

The Project, called 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).

With this training (video and pictures below), service-delivery at the Centre will finally commence on April 1, 2022. Services were originally delayed after the commissioning due to an industrial action embarked upon by the staff of the Primary Health Care Board of the Federal Capital Territory (PHCB-FCT). The PHCB-FCT is partnering with the OCI Foundation on this project.

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.