Monday, August 29, 2011

Addis to host 1st Global Summit on Women Cancers in Africa

(Augest  28, 201, ADDIS ABABA, Press Agency)-- The Princess Nikky Breast Cancer Foundation in collaboration with the Forum of African First Ladies Against Breast & Cervical Cancer, African Parliamentarians and Health Ministers Against Cancer, and partners will hold the 1st Global Summit on Women Cancer in Africa here in Addis September 1 - 2, 2011.

In a press release sent to The Ethiopian Herald yesterday, summit organizers said that close to 1,000 delegates representing African governments, first ladies, international organizations, NGOs and private companies are expected to attend the summit, which is the first of its kind on the continent.

The press release indicated that the organizers hope delegates will agree on a common strategy to put the issue of women cancer on the global health agenda at the forthcoming United Nations High Level Summit on Non-Communicable Disease Prevention and Control to be held September 19-20 in New York, USA.

Princess Nikky, through her Foundation, has been very active over the last 5 years, working with African First Ladies to raise awareness about breast and cervical cancers. Cervical cancer in particular is highly preventable through vaccination against the human Papillomavirus which causes the infections leading to the vast majority of cervical cancers.

The World Health Organization estimates that 88 per cent of the 275,000 women who died of cervical cancer in 2008 lived in developing countries. The goal of the Summit is to increase political and financial support for the prevention and control of breast and cervical cancers which take a heavy toll on African women.

According to the release, Princess Nikky Onyeri, the head of the Princess Nikky Foundation and organizer of the event has expressed great appreciation for Ethiopian authorities. "I am extremely grateful to the Ethiopian political and administrative leaders for having accepted to host this important meeting.

The geopolitical and historical place of Ethiopia in the world makes this country the ideal place to launch such an important campaign. After all, Ethiopia is the birth place of two of the most famous women on Earth: Lucy, the first woman on Earth and the Queen of Sheba, one of the most celebrated women in the world during her time. 

I cannot think of any better place to remind the entire world of the importance of women and raise awareness about women cancer which threaten the lives of all women!”

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