Sunday Okobi
An award-winning technical event management company, Option A International Resources Limited, has announced its partnership with Project Pink Blue to commemorate the 2024 World Cancer Day activities.
World Cancer Day is a global annual event that raises awareness of cancer to encourage its prevention, early detection, and better treatment.
Since 2015, Project Pink Blue has been observing the health day, Option A has supported the event since 2021.
This year, the event tagged: ‘Close the care gap’, seeks to call on all individuals, private sectors and the government to take action in advancing cancer care in Nigeria’.
The Event Programme Director of Option A International and Resources Limited, Boliuma Olusayero, said: “Cancer is now ravaging our friends and people close to us, and I do not think that one single organisation can tackle this disease. Hence, as an event company, we are using this opportunity to give back to the community. We’ve supported this cancer walk for the past three years, and are committed to doing more in supporting the efforts of Project Pink Blue and the government in addressing cancer incidence and mortality in Nigeria.
“For the 2024 World Cancer Day, we are deploring two activities: first, the World Cancer Day Walk, where we are expecting over 3,000 people to participate in the 5km walk, 20km cycle, 10km race, 40km ride and marathon against cancer on February 3, 2024, at Transcorp Hilton, Abuja.
“We hope to honour those lost to cancer, raise funds for those battling the disease, and show support for cancer awareness and prevention in Nigeria.
“Secondly, we will also host a high-level policymaker and stakeholder symposium on February 5 to discuss the ‘Economy, Taxation and Cancer Control: The Exit of Pharma from Nigeria’. The symposium will discuss the impact of the exit of pharma companies on the economy and cancer care in Nigeria.”
It stated that those expected at the event include Runcie C.W. Chidebe, executive director of Project PINK BLUE; Senator Atiku Abubakar Bagudu, Minister of Budget and Economic Planning; Dr. Zainab Shinkafi-Bagudu, founder of Medicaid Foundation and Radio-diagnostics; Prof. Aliyu Malami, director-general of the National Institute for Cancer Research and Treatment among other high-level policymakers.
According to the World Health Organisation, 124,815 Nigerians were diagnosed with different types of cancer in 2020, and about 78,899 have died of this disease. World Cancer Day, established by the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) is a global day to advocate for better care and to reduce the burden of cancer across the world. The Project PINK BLUE’s
World Cancer Day activities are efforts geared towards reducing the burden of cancer in Nigeria.
