A medical practitioner, Dr Toyosi Aibinuomo, on Wednesday warned against excessive consumption of alcohol and tobacco, to prevent breast cancer.
Aibinuomo gave the advice in Ilorin at a seminar on breast cancer, in commemoration of the World Breast Cancer Week.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the seminar was jointly organised by the Kwara Chapter of the Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ) and Medical Women Association of Nigeria (MWAN).
According to the medical expert, excessive intake of alcohol and tobacco can cause a tumor that can lead to breast cancer.
Aibinuomo said that breast cancer could affect both sexes.
“No gender can be said to be immune to breast cancer as it affects both male and female, so, we all have to be cautious of what we consume.
“Everyone should be responsive to any change in his or her body, because the only way it can be cured is through early detection,” she said.
She advised that women especially should watch their weight and endeavour to breastfeed their babies, to reduce their chances of having breast cancer.
The doctor, however, called on the government to implement a policy to ban the consumption of alcohol and tobacco, to reduce deaths arising from breast cancer.
Earlier, Chairperson of Kwara NAWOJ, Mrs Ayobola Olupinla, said the high death rate attributed to breast cancer informed the reason for the seminar.
“We realised that breast cancer is one of the diseases with high death rate, and people need to be more enlightened about it.
“As mothers, we deemed it fit to organise this seminar to raise more awareness about its prevention and control.
“We want to keep everybody abreast of what they should do when changes are noticed in their bodies,” Olupinla said.
The Immediate Past Deputy National President of NAWOJ, Hajia Bilqees Oladimeji, said that early detection was the only panacea to prevent breast cancer. (NAN)