Francis Sardauna in Katsina
The Katsina State Government, in partnership with the Safe Space Humanitarian Initiative (SASHIN), has unveiled a programme aimed at preventing deaths from cervical cancer among women across the state.
The initiative, christened, ‘One-Stop Katsina Cervical Cancer Screening Programme’, seeks to promote early detection, timely treatment and increased awareness of cervical cancer, one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths among women.
Unveiling the programme on Tuesday at the Government House, the First Lady of Katsina State, Hajiya Zulaihat Dikko Radda, said it was designed to provide cervical cancer screening and treatment support for 500 women across the state.
She said the 500 eligible women will undergo comprehensive screening while participating in scientific studies involving HPV DNA testing through Liquid-Based Cytology, vaginal microbiome analysis and genetic research.
She disclosed that women diagnosed with pre-cancerous cervical lesions during the exercise would receive sponsorship from her office for treatment at the Federal Teaching Hospital, Katsina.
As a member of First Ladies Against Cancer, the governor’s wife reaffirmed her commitment to promoting cancer prevention, early diagnosis and improved access to quality healthcare services for women throughout the state.
While noting that no woman should lose her life to a disease that is largely preventable through early detection and timely treatment, the first lady described the initiative as a landmark intervention in the fight against cervical cancer.
She urged women to take advantage of the opportunity and appealed to husbands, religious leaders, traditional rulers and community stakeholders to support efforts aimed at encouraging participation in the programme.
Earlier, a renowned cancer researcher from the University of Miami, Prof. Sophia Hilary George, described the One-Stop Katsina cervical cancer screening initiative as a transformative model that could accelerate the elimination of cervical cancer across Africa and beyond.
She noted that the One-Stop model shifts healthcare delivery from reactive crisis management to proactive prevention by reducing waiting times and ensuring immediate access to treatment for eligible patients.
“Eliminating cervical cancer is no longer merely a scientific aspiration. We have the tools, the expertise, the partnerships and, most importantly, the political will and community leadership required to make it a reality,” she stated.
Presenting an overview of the programme, a Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist at the Federal Teaching Hospital, Katsina, Dr. Fatima Abubakar Rasheed, said the programme would improve early detection of cervical disease.
She added that it would reduce loss-to-follow-up through linkage navigators, generate multi-modal data and strengthen health systems and information scale-up.
