ZANZIBAR: THE First Lady of Zanzibar, Maryam Mwinyi, reignited a passionate call to action against cancer diseases during a meeting with medical experts from Hong Kong at her rest house in Migombani.
She stated that cancer diseases hinder societal and economic efforts, often leading to poverty due to the high cost of treatment that many patients cannot afford and called for collective commitment to bring about tangible progress in the fight against the devastating diseases.
Data from the World Health Organisation (WHO) shows that every two minutes, a woman dies from cervical cancer, although the knowledge and the tools to prevent and even treat the disease are already in place.
Vaccination against human papillomavirus (HPV), the leading cause of cervical cancer can prevent the vast majority of cases.
In a meeting with experts from Hong Kong, including Dr Jeremy Hon, a cancer specialist and Ms Angel Hon from the ‘Belt and Road Creation Resources’ organisation, the First Lady said cancers such as breast and cervical cancer remain a challenge in many countries including in Zanzibar.
She said in efforts to support the government’s initiatives to control cancer and other Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs), her ‘Zanzibar Maisha Bora Foundation (ZMBF),’ has been engaging in public awareness and encouraging people to adopt healthier lifestyles to prevent non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and heart complications.
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“ZMBF regularly organises free medical camps, on average every three months in all regions of Unguja and Pemba. These initiatives are carried out in collaboration with the Zanzibar Ministry of Health and local leaders to encourage citizens to go for checkup and treatment,” said the First Lady.
Moreover, she shared with the visitors her Foundation’s campaign to promote physical fitness by participating in community walks to encourage healthy living and eating.
In response, Dr Jeremy and Ms Angel commended the development efforts and excellent work being carried out by ZMBF as they expressed their eagerness to strengthen collaboration with Zanzibar, particularly in sharing expertise in the health sector to reduce the prevalence of cancers affecting many citizens.
