STL Capital and COPE hold 8km walk, offer free breast cancer screening
- STL Capital Group and COPE held an 8km breast cancer awareness walk in Lagos.
- The partners also offered free screening and handed out educational flyers to men and women.
- COPE runs free breast ultrasound screening on the third Saturday of every month.
STL Capital Group and the Care Organisation Public Enlightenment (COPE) have taken their breast cancer awareness campaign to Lagos streets, with an 8km walk, free screening and the distribution of educational flyers. It is the fourth year running that the two organisations have worked together on the initiative.
The walk was aimed at getting more Nigerians to check their breasts early and to seek medical attention without delay. Organisers said the message was aimed at men as much as women.
"Breast cancer is not gender sensitive," said Funmi Ekundayo, Group Managing Director of STL Capital Group, adding that men and women both received flyers along the route.
Ekundayo said the company had widened its support since it grew from STL Trustees into a capital market holding company with three businesses under it. She urged people to use the screening on offer, saying early detection saves lives.
Free screening every month
COPE's Founder and CEO, Ebunola Anibaba, thanked STL Capital for helping keep the free screening going. She said COPE holds free breast ultrasound screening on the third Saturday of every month, backed by corporate partners, so that women can be checked without paying.
She advised women to see a doctor if they notice a lump, a change in breast size or shape, a nipple turning inward, unusual discharge or dimpled skin. Fear of a diagnosis, she said, should not stop anyone from getting screened, because early treatment works better.
STL Capital's Executive Director, Akin Oni, called on other companies to take corporate social responsibility seriously. He said such support need not be limited to cancer and could cover polio or other public health concerns.
Oni said fear and poor awareness often stop people from getting checked, and that education is key to helping people know their health status.
What happens next
Women who want a free check can visit COPE's screening on the third Saturday of each month. The group has not announced any change to that schedule.
