On Wednesday 26th, 2018, alongside His Excellency, President Paul Kagame, First Lady Jeannette Kagame shared the experiences from Rwanda attended the Organisation of African First Ladies Against HIV/AIDs (OAFLA). She shared the the experiences from Rwanda, highlighting the status of cancer in Rwanda, current interventions and challenges to be addressed.
In her contribution, Her Excellency shared success stories including the fact that Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) immunization campaigns are carried out across the country with the aim to immunize girls aged 12 years at primary health care level.
Other key points raised and discussed during the panel discussion included the need to improve systems so that cancer can be detected faster; using affordable methods whenever required; the need to reinforce capacity building through concerted efforts of public-private partnership; the need to take advantage of new technologies for diagnosis such as telemedicine and finally the need to involve cancer survivors in advocacy efforts and communicating to new patients the fact that there is a life after a diagnosis and treatment.
Following this event, Her Excellency Mrs Jeannette Kagame attended a reception hosted by First Lady of the USA, Mrs Melania Trump, followed by an event hosted by the First Lady of Niger, Her Excellency, Dr Lalla Malika Issoufou themed “Impact of community interventions”, aimed to address socio-economic issues affecting vulnerable girls and women.
During this event, First Lady Dr Lalla Malika Issoufou called on all partners and participants present to support the new dynamics on the continent and especially in the Sahel region in order to ensure stronger communities.
The event was also attended by Niger Ministers of Public Health and Women’s Promotion and Child Protection and Representative of Religious Leaders, as well as the UNFPA Executive Director and West and Central Africa Regional Director, the UN Deputy Secretary-General, Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs and a representative from the Danish Ministry of Development Cooperation.
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