As part of efforts to promote the October 1-31 Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Nigeria on Tuesday, joined the rest of the world to mark the October 13 National No Bra Day.
The National No Bra Day, an annual holiday reportedly created in 2011 by breast cancer advocates to commemorate the October Breast Cancer Awareness Month serves as a reminder for all women to be screened for breast cancer.
For survivors and advocates of breast cancer, it is a day meant to promote breast cancer awareness and to help raise money for research.
The theme for 2015 World Cancer Day is "Not Beyond Us."
Meanwhile, according to the National Breast Cancer Coalition (NBCC), a union of breast cancer organisations seeking to bring an end to the disease by 2020, "there are 11 cancer registries in the country where information on cancer and tumor diseases are systemically collated.
"Nigeria does not have a national cancer policy. Radiotherapy is not generally available in public health institutions; there are currently nine radiotherapy centres and 30 oncologists. At the public hospitals, treatment is available largely at the tertiary level."
However, the statistics for breast cancer in Nigeria are daunting. According to the World Health Organization, over 2 million Nigerians (the majority of them women) have died from cancer, and breast cancer is the leading cancer scourge affecting humans.
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