04 Nov 2021 “OCI CerviBreast App Expansion” and “ArOY Health Campaign”: Deliberations continue with Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Health, FMoH (03/11/2021)
On Wednesday, November 3, 2021, the OCI Foundation engaged representatives of Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH), Abuja, Nigeria in a virtual meeting. The OCI Foundation’s President (Dr Chris Ifediora) and Head of Advocacy (Mr Sam Agwa) represented the Foundation, while officials from the FMoH and the Nigerian Cancer Society (NCS) were equally in attendance.
This parley is part of the efforts at expanding the OCI Foundation’s innovative OCI CerviBreast Mobile Phone Application, which will include, among other unique features, a functionality for Nigerians to easily locate breast and cervical cancer service providers from anywhere in Nigeria. The national roll-out of the OCI Arm Our Youths (ArOY) Health Campaign on February 2, 2022, was also discussed.
This marks the third time both the FMOH and the OCI Foundation, who are official partners, are meeting.
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.
The ArOY Health Campaign has the support of the, NextGenU.org (the World’s first online University), the United States Centers for Disease Control (U.S. CDC) and the University of British Columbia, Canada (ranked 45th in the world, according to the 2021 QS World University Ranking). Experts from these institutions, along with others from the University of Saskatchewan (Canada) and the Griffith University (Australia), will work with the OCI Foundation and the Nigerian Government on the roll-out, implementation and monitoring of the ArOY project. In addition, the prestigious Harvard Medical School, USA, of which Dr Chris Ifediora (the Founder of the OCI Foundation) is an Alumnus of, had earlier endorsed the Campaign, and made significant contributions to the Campaign’s design ahead of its roll out in Anambra State last year.
A number of other reputable Nigerian institutions partnering the OCI Foundation on this initiative include the Innoson Group, the NYSC (National Office), the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs (Nigeria), Nigeria’s National Orientation Agency (NOA), the Federal Ministry of Health (Nigeria), Nollywood Nigeria, the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, the Anambra Broadcasting Service (ABS), Silk Road Restaurant (Abuja), and the Post Primary Schools Service Commission, PPSSC (Anambra state), among others.
There are also plans to involve the Office of the First Lady of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Nigeria’s Governor’s Forum (which includes the Governors of all the 36 States of Nigeria), and Nigeria’s ministries of Health, Education and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
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