Once upon a time, the black race called the disease "cancer" the disease of the white race. With all sense of assurance some, if not most Africans have that vague believe. Lives are lost every single day, no wonder the film industry adopts cancer to signify a character being at d verge of death or better still a living corpse.
This disease is believed to be as old as any one can imagine, the master multiplier(high internal acidity, low cellular oxygenation) some will say. The name Steves Jobs does ring a bell, doesn't it? (CEO of Apple/Pixar animation),died of cancer of the pancreas, Patrick Swayze (a renounced entertainer died of same pancreatic cancer). Why go too far, coming back to Nigeria, Dora Akunyili (The vibrant Ex DG of Nafdac and then minister of information) died of endometrial cancer, Sen. Chukwumereji died of cancer of the lungs, Oronto Douglas died of cancer of the stomach.
Pathetic you will say, come to think of it, these are people who had the financial stands to manage it, but they still faced great health depletion which led to their dead. I personally lost a cousin who died of cancer of the cheek, an aunt who died of cancer of the breast ( their death was beyond timely, probably because the medical footing was way above their financial backing).
All I'm trying to lay straight is this, It doesn't just stop by saying "It will neither happen to me nor my family members" (who then will it happen to?) OR "it can happen to anyone". It starts by making sure that those that are living with cancer are giving the necessary support, it even goes the eight mile by ensuring that those who it hasn't happened to are not journeying to the cancer experience.
Let this not be an emotional flashback that will make you have a rethink(sympathy with no empathy), but let it be an emotional challenge that will ignite your empathy to a point of "what can I do to make a difference?".
Even the easily treated cancer kills an average Nigerian, poor financial stand to manage lingering demands, poor equipments for cancer treatment, little or no knowledge on cancer. ARE YOU INTO THE MEDICAL FIELD? ARE YOU FINANCIAL FIT? DO YOUR WORDS BRING HEALING? HOW MUCH DO YOU KNOW ABOUT CANCER? Knowing without productive actions levels all to one conclusion-IGNORANCE...DO U KNOW THE NEXT CANCER PATIENT?...You can change that....if only you stop thinking you can never live with it. KNOW ABOUT THE ONCOLOGY TODAY. We live, then we die, but in between life and death lies an opportunity to serve God and extend a helping hand to humanity. [Gaius Gbounda Bala]