Nigeria’s First Lady Turai Yar’Adua has urged Business and Professional Women International (BPW) to assist in creating awareness on HIV and AIDS, amd cervical and breast cancer among women in Africa.
Opening a conference of Africa regional congress of the BPW, Mrs Yar’Adua said women, especially those in the rural areas, should be educated on the importance of screening for HIV and AIDS, as well as cervical and breast cancer.
Turai, who was represented by the wife of the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Mrs Funmi Kayode, noted that the theme of the conference, “Power to make the difference through leadership” was key to the challenges facing the African continent today.
“I want all of you to get involved in advocacy and implementation. If we all work together on this we will reduce the incident of death and suffering which need not be.
“I advise on this issue because of my dream and aspiration to support cancer treatment in Africa and reduce mortality, especially women mortality due to cancer,” she added.
She called on well-off women, particularly those of African origin, to join hands in achieving the objectives of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
“It is through leadership in every respect of our lives that we can mobilize and encourage every other woman to acquire knowledge at various strategies that would improve the country.
“Admittedly, African women have a lot of issues to contend with, issues which range from health to poverty, education, culture and socio-political limitation but in BPW, collaboration with other women, African women may hopefully begin to see the bright light,” Turai said.
Turai advised participants to use the opportunity afforded them by the conference to reach some consensus on the way forward for African women to find solutions to many of their health problems.
She said : “Without being helped we cannot expect the aim of this meeting to work.”
In his remarks, Mr Olusegun Runsewe, Director-General of the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC), said men alone could hardly achieve the objectives of the MDGs without the women.
“You cannot do tourism without women, because they have very important role to play, about 60 per cent of the practitioners in tourism are women”.
Mrs Elizabeth Benham, President of BPW International, said time had come for African women to enhance responsibility for the economic, political and social development of the continent.
According to her, one of the themes for the conference is the emotional intelligence and educational program to teach women the differences between them and the men.
Source African Press Agency
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