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Hope Rekindles For Nigerian Women With Dense Breasts

Published

1 month ago

August 15, 2023

Editor

2 in 3 women unhappy with their breast size – Study

The acquisition of an Automated Breast Ultrasound, ABUS, device by Care Organisation Public Enlightenment, C.O.P.E. in collaboration with GE HealthCare weekend, offered hope for Nigerian women who may fall into the category of the 40 per cent of women with dense breasts – a strong and common risk factor for developing breast cancer.

Findings have showed that ABUS is transforming breast care from reactive to proactive and helping to detect breast cancers in dense tissue.

Clinical studies have demonstrated that ultrasound can detect tiny, node-negative, aggressive tumours that mammography misses. It is intended for use in the screening setting, specifically for dense breast imaging.

However, the Chief Executive Officer of COPE, Mrs. Ebun Anozie, said the procurement of the technology is targeted at scanning at least 200 women monthly and no fewer than 2,000 women annually.

The machine, which would save as many women as possible from the clutches of the disease, also works with saline and silicone breast implants.

Speaking at the official launch in Lagos, Anozie said: “Do you know what this will do to a lot of women who come to us? It will enhance our screening. It will help us detect breast cancer early and we will be able to reach out to more women. This is the A game. It is going to help a lot of women, not forgetting the fact that men also have breast cancer, one in 100. It’s just that it is higher in women than men because we have breasts.

“We screen every third Saturday of every month. But, we have attended to about 100 persons before in one day because we have four machines and this is the fifth one. Women come here every third Saturday of the month from 10 am to 2 pm. ordinarily, it costs about N15,000 to go for screening. Here, our partners have made it free. What we want is to mitigate the mortality rate of breast cancer in Nigeria. We don’t need to die. Screening is the game because when something is detected early and treatments are given early, there is a high chance of surviving cancer.”

Speaking, the Chairman, Board of Trustees, C.O.P.E, Professor Frank Giwa-Osagie, said the technology was advancement in cancer management, adding that early diagnosis would prevent loss of lives.

He said: “It’s been established that the chances of survival or cure in cancer depend heavily on early diagnosis and appropriate treatment. It is only when you diagnose that you can start treating, so any technology that can be applied to ensure accurate early diagnosis is a major step forward in cancer management. This ABUS technology is an advanced ultrasound for scanning the breast. It’s a major advancement not only for C.O.P.E but for women generally.

“We are very happy and grateful that we have this machine now in Lagos, and we are planning to scan at least 2,000 women per year. The whole procedure of scanning takes only 20 minutes and it is not inconvenient at all to the woman.”

On his part, Group Head, Strategic Brand Management, Mr Nduneche Ezurike, added: “Cancer ravages every family directly or indirectly. It is something that you are better off preventing than to cure. Historically, it predates the current-day Polaris Bank. For us as an organisation, it is ultimately about humanity. Health is an enterprise goal and we are focused on it in different ways. Having a state-of-the-art machine improves C.O.P.E’s capacity to do more in terms of reach and impact. This machine totally changes the game for them and it would help in attaining the objective, which is to reach as many women as possible.”
VANGUARD

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Army Put On Standby As UK Police Hand In Weapons

Published

9 hours ago

September 25, 2023

Editor

The United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defence is offering soldiers to support armed police in London after dozens of police officers stood down from firearms duties, BBC reports.

More than 100 officers have turned in permits allowing them to carry weapons, a source told the BBC, in support of a fellow officer who has been charged with murder over the fatal shooting of a young Black man, Chris Kaba.

The officer, named only as NX121, who appeared in court last week, has been charged over the death of Chris Kaba in September 2022.

Kaba died hours after he was struck by a single gunshot fired into the vehicle he was driving in the Streatham area of South London.

It later emerged that the Audi Mr Kaba was driving, which did not belong to him, had been linked by police to a gun incident the day before.

His death prompted a number of protests and renewed allegations of racism within the force.

The Ministry of Defence said it received a request, known as Military Aid to the Civil Authorities, from the Home Office to “provide routine counter-terrorism contingency support to the Metropolitan Police, should it be needed”.

A MACA is offered to the police or the NHS in emergency situations. The military helped medical staff in the Covid pandemic and covered for striking border staff and paramedics last year.

The Met said it was a “contingency option” that would only be used “in specific circumstances and where an appropriate policing response was not available”.

Military staff would not be used “in a routine policing capacity”, it added.

Chris Kaba

On Saturday, the Met said its own officers still make up the vast majority of armed police in the capital but they were being supported by a limited number of firearms officers from neighbouring forces.

Announcing the review, Home Secretary Suella Braverman said the public “depend on our brave firearms officers to protect us”.

“In the interest of public safety they have to make split-second decisions under extraordinary pressures.”

She said that officers have her “full backing”.

“I will do everything in my power to support them,” she added.

In his letter to the home secretary, the Met Police commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, said that a system where officers are investigated for “safely pursuing suspects” should not have been allowed to develop.

Sir Mark said he would “make no comment” on any ongoing legal matters, but “the issues raised in this letter go back further”.

He said firearms officers are concerned that they will face years of legal proceedings, “even if they stick to the tactics and training they have been given”.

“Officers need sufficient legal protection to enable them to do their job and keep the public safe, and the confidence that it will be applied consistently and without fear or favour,” he wrote.

But in instances where officers act improperly, Sir Mark said the system “needs to move swiftly” rather than “tying itself in knots pursuing good officers through multiple legal processes”.

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Man Charged With Beating His Three Children To Death

Published

10 hours ago

September 25, 2023

Editor

Police in Thailand have charged a man with beating to death his two-year-old daughter and his two infant sons, BBC reports.

The police suspect Songsak Songsaeng also killed two other infant sons from a previous marriage.

The charges follow the discovery last week of the body of a two-year-old girl buried beneath a kitchen floor.

Police say Songsak claims to have a history of mental illness, and that he killed his children because he couldn’t tolerate the sound of their crying.

His wife has also been charged over the death of their two-year-old daughter. And his ex-wife has been charged over the deaths of the two boys. All three have been arrested. Songsak has been married four times.

Police were first alerted to a possible case of domestic violence at the Bang Khen district in Bangkok earlier this month.

Songsak’s neighbours reported that his two daughters, aged 12 and four, were being physically abused. Police rescued the two daughters while they were home without their parents.

The 12-year-old told police that their parents had beaten her two-year-old sister, which led to her death. She also helped police trace the body to where it was buried under a kitchen floor in north-west Thailand last week.

Thai police have also charged Songsak with the killing of two other sons he had with his third wife after his DNA matched with that of two infants, whose bodies were unearthed 10 years ago.

His third wife had said he killed their four infant sons and gave police locations where two were buried.

Police believe the two others may have been buried under an area where a petrol station now stands.

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JUST IN: Russia Adds ICC President, Hofmanski, To Wanted List

Published

10 hours ago

September 25, 2023

Editor

The Russian Government, on Monday, said it had placed the President of the International Criminal Court, which is seeking the arrest of President Vladimir Putin, on its wanted list.

“Hofmanski Piotr Jozef, Polish. Wanted under an article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation,” Russian news agencies reported, citing the Interior Ministry.

Nigeria fastest growing cricket nation, says ICC.

Details later…

AFP

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