The Medicaid Cancer Foundation (MCF), a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), has taken a bold step towards battling prostate cancer by partnering with local artists in an innovative awareness campaign.
This collaborative initiative aims to educate men aged 40 and above about the significant risks associated with prostate cancer, as well as available funding and treatment options.
Through a joint effort with Johnson & Johnson (J&J) Innovative Medicine and Maigaskiya Visuals, the campaign, aptly named “Art 4 Cancer,” was unveiled during an event held on Saturday.
The founder of the Foundation, Dr Zainab-Shinkafi Bagudu, said that the power of art is a communication tool in addressing the challenges posed by this disease.
“Art enables us to convey emotions, ideas, and innovative concepts effectively to mobilize communities in understanding the dangers of prostate cancer,” Bagudu remarked.
Identifying a lack of effective communication tools as a major hurdle in advocacy efforts, Bagudu, noted that one of the dynamic strategies to educate is the mobilisation of artists to convey messages for effectiveness.
According to her, the foundation decided to move the crowd out of their homes to raise funds for cancer patients by using the talent of the creative artists to express concern about cancer.
“Art is a way of expressing different emotions, different ideas and different innovations. One of the biggest problems that we have in cancer advocacy is how to get the message across to the people.
“The important thing is for us to know that cancer is real; it is killing over 20 million people across the world every year, and 80 per cent of these people are from the lower/middle cadre, so we have to educate ourselves about it.
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“We need to accept preventive measures; we need to adopt a healthy lifestyle; no smoking! no alcohol!! and then exercise regularly. These are some of the things that are important to prevent it.
“Another key to this is that early detection is the key to saving lives,” Bagudu continued.
Also speaking, the Programme Manager at MCF, Mr Joshua Ochogwu, said the significance of “Art 4 Cancer” in breaking the culture of silence surrounding prostate cancer.
He expressed gratitude for the enthusiastic participation of numerous artists in the event, including visual artists, musicians, poets, and photographers.
“We believe that art has the power to revive, unite, and raise awareness about cancer. Through various artistic expressions, we aim to educate the public and encourage collective action against this disease,” Mr Ochogwu stated.
Additionally, the Director of Government Affairs and Policy at J & J Innovative Medicine, Mr Ikechukwu Ofuani, stressed the importance of continued education and awareness for men aged 40 and above.
“I urged men in this demographic to undergo prostate cancer examinations and emphasized J & J’s commitment to providing innovative treatments and medications.
“There are various way of conveying messages; as a matter of fact, this particular project is part of our November project because the month is a prostate cancer month but for some reason, we couldn’t organise it then and we moved it to this period.
“The essence of the activities is for men to get tested and we will continue to create more awareness about prostate cancer while the proceeds from this programme are going into the treatment of cancer patients”, he said.
The Convener of Maigaskiya Visuals, Mr Abdullah-Uthman Maigaskiya, informed the gathering that MCF decided to bring artists together to create a platform to promote the advocacy against prostate cancer.
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Maigaskiya who is a photographer/Cinematographer stated that the exhibition at the event is a collection of works from different artists for demonstration of the effect of the disease on society.
He said that the artistic work was also put together to encourage upcoming artists to embrace visual art to demonstrate the scourge.
“Medicaid is auctioning some of this artwork, the proceeds at the end of the day will go into the allocated fund for campaigning against Cancer.
“Historically, the media has always been a strong tool in creating engagement, drawing awareness to issues that are happening around us; for us, we are happy to be part of this show.
“In today’s world, visuals are becoming a powerful tool for creating engagement, drawing attention, media outlets are playing role in educating, as well as addressing issues that are prevalent in the society,” he said.
A Cancer Survivor, Mr Abiodun Adegoroye, advised Nigerians to always choose their eat and avoid inhaling chemicals that are dangerous to their health.
The survivor narrated that he contracted the disease during the fumigation of his house and advised the people to always take precautionary measures.
“Sometimes we need to leave some work for professionals who know what to do; how to take care of themselves and prevent cancer.
“Some of us use snippers to kill mosquitoes, and we do all kinds of silly things to get results which sometimes could result in cancer.
“So, I am advocating that people should watch what they eat, watch what they drink, don’t drink out of plastic, don’t eat or drink from anything that can introduce chemicals into your food, sleep early, wake up early.
“We need to live a normal life and avoid smoking and drinking, all these weaken the immune system,” Adegoroye stressed.
(NAN)
