By Ilam Patricia
Dr. Betta Edu, has said that there will be no world without the Girl child.
She disclosed this in commemoration of the 2019 International day of the girl child which was marked on Friday, 11th October, at the University of Calabar International Conference Center.
The international day of the Girl Child which had the theme, “Girl Force: Unscripted and Unstoppable”, according to Betta depicts the importance of the girl child in the society.
She said “As I speak to you, 130 million girls are not in school, because they are girls. As I speak to you, over 15 million young girls under 18 years are being forced into marriage, and over 17 girls are being forced to have sex that they don’t want to have, because they are girls. But young girls, you know what? There will be no world without us as girls. We are not here for the kitchen and the other room, we are here to make a difference.”
Betta implored that “you are here to lead the next generation, you are the change Nigeria is waiting for. Let them know that nothing can stop you, let them not tell you if you make progress, you can’t be married, it’s a lie”, she said.
She concluded by calling on students to dream impossibly big, to take their education serious, to be focused, to become advocate of every other female child and to be supportive of their fellow women/girls in their accomplishments.
Earlier, the President of the Medical Women Association of Nigeria, Calabar Chapter (MWAN), Dr. Jacinta Okoi spoke about the dangers of breast cancer and possible preventive measures.
According to Dr. Okoi, “Breast cancer is the growth of abnormal cells. It can affect anybody irrespective of age and gender.
Given statistics from her research, she asserted that 1.1 million people are diagnosed yearly, while 400 thousand women die annually from breast cancer, and it is the leading cause of death in women globally.
According to her, “About 5-10 percent of breast cancer could results from hereditary threat, genetics, etc.” Dr. Jacinta went further to say that a woman is 200 hundred times more likely to have it than a man.
Some signs and symptoms includes; visible lump, nipple change, colour or texture change, shape, redness, swelling, destruction of the skin and so forth.
She suggested the use of chemotherapy or chemo prevention which is the use of drugs to reduce the risk of breast cancer, reduction/avoidance of alcohol and smoking.
Meanwhile, Rosemary Etta, a student of Government Girls Secondary Big Qua Town, Calabar said, “I’m going to take home the fact that education shouldn’t stop you from doing a business.”
Another student, Patience Esuku said “I have learned that back in those days, we didn’t have anything like sanitary pads, but because of all the girl foundation and the conferences organized for girls, I have learned that we should use pad, it is good and also have sanitary hygiene. To all the girls out there, they should also have their bath regularly, they should have a good menstrual hygiene and also keep themselves clean.”
High point of the event was spoken word presentation, drama and essay presentation, panel session and distribution of books and sanitary pads to various schools present.
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