An Address delivered by Her Excellency, Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu at theLagos Women Fitness Fair 2022 on the 5th of November, 2022.

Salutation…

Ladies and gentlemen, it is always my delight to participate in the Lagos women’s fitness fair and this year’s edition is no exception. It is thrilling to see a solid network of sisterhood, encouraging and motivating each other to keep fit and adopt healthy lifestyles.

The Breast Cancer Association of Nigeria (BRECAN) shares the same vision and that is the basis for our collaboration with Curves. We formed this collaboration in 2019 but due to the covid-19 pandemic we couldn’t do much in subsequent years. Now that most of the coronavirus restrictions have been relaxed, we are set to take this partnership to the next level for more impact.

Healthy lifestyle is at the core of fighting cancer diseases. Studies have shown that sedentary lifestyle is a major risk factor for most cancer types. Yet due to lack of awareness, busy schedules and poor motivation, many women are yet to adopt an exercise embedded lifestyle.

I am happy that Curve is bridging this gap by creating a safe and interesting space for women to enjoy routine workouts.
For 25 years, BRECAN has been working tirelessly to reduce the burden of breast cancer and more recently cervical cancer in Nigeria.

Through many campaigns we educate people, women especially, on the need to stay physically active through good exercise routines. We make this a major part of our conversation during our commemoration of the yearly world cancer day in February and Breast Cancer awareness month in October.

Just as we did this morning, across
the 6 States of Lagos, Oyo, Ondo, Bayelsa, Imo and FCT where BRECAN chapters are
operational, we mark the breast cancer awareness month with the “Jog 4 Life” event where we jog several kilometres to create breast cancer awareness and demonstrate healthy lifestyle through exercising.

As an organisation, we have seen many needless deaths attributable to breast and cervical cancers. We have seen husbands lose their beloved wives and children their mothers; we have seen families go bankrupt paying cancer treatment bills; we have seen women get so helpless they can only count the few days left to live. We have seen too much to fold our arms, thus; as much as we create awareness to promote healthy lifestyles and encourage early detection, we
also support patients across the 6 States of our operation.

Through a crowd funding initiative where well-meaning individuals donate specific sum of money periodically, we are able to provide financial support to some breast cancer patients. Leveraging on our network of survivors, Team Survivors Nigeria, we also provide psychosocial support to breast cancer patients and their families.

Permit me therefore to use this opportunity to invite you all to join us in the fight against breast cancer and the elimination of cervical cancer in Nigeria. Take the bold step to be a part of the WHO 90:70:90 target to eliminate cervical cancer and the global fight to reduce breast cancer burden in low resource settings like Nigeria. By becoming a volunteer member of BRECAN or simply donating to BRECAN’s support activities, you will be making a huge difference in the lives of families touched by breast or cervical cancer.