The Oyo State Government has urged women of child bearing age in the state to go for free cervical cancer tests at its various designated centres, for early detection.
The call was made on Monday by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Dr. Olusoji Adeyanju, during a special Colposcopy training in conjunction with University of Maryland Batimore(UMB) and University of New Mexico(UNM).
The Permanent Secretary, who spoke through the Director, Planning Research and Statistics, Dr. Abbas Gbolahan, said the main purpose of the training organised for doctors and nurses in Oyo State is to acquaint them with the new mobile colposcopy gadget used for early detection of cervical cancer.
He described cervical cancer as the second-commonest cancer among women in the society, adding that the state was on top of the situation to combat the deadly disease with a robust strategy already on the ground.
In his remarks, a medical expert, Dr. Imran Morhason-Bello, who spoke on behalf of the partners, expressed optimism that the introduction of the mobile Colposcopy instrument, would avail the trained Cervical cancer experts the opportunity of detecting the virus earlier on the spot, even in the remotest areas.
Speaking on behalf of the participants of the training, Dr. Shakirah Lanlege, commended the state government and the facilitators for giving them the opportunity to take part in the programme.
She pledged that the knowledge acquired from the training would be diligently applied while carrying out their duties.