By Christy Anyanwu
HOW Foundation’s first ‘Blue- State’ Charity Match for prostate Cancer Awareness Month took place on Saturday, September 23, during which four teams and their supporters were hosted at Road 14 Football Pitch, Lekki, Lagos. The football match started with a kick off by the founder of The How Foundation, Dr Herbert Wigwe.
The objective of the match is to create more consciousness about what prostate cancer is all about and its danger. The competition was between Atletico Sports Club, Soccer Nation, FSG and Access Warriors. Fans of the various football teams were around to cheer and support their favourite side.
After a series of face offs, Soccer Nation emerged the winner of the tournament and Melody was also announced as the highest goal scorer of the day.
The winning team went home with a trophy. In her welcome address, the Chief Executive Officer
(CEO) of the Foundation, Ms. Antonia Ally, spoke on the essence of the football match.
The match, she explained was to create awareness for prostate cancer amongst men and the
threat prostate cancer poses to families in Nigeria.
“Prostate cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer related death in Nigerian men. Yet you go to villages and you find out that the average Nigerian man does not know what his prostate
is.
The HOW Foundation has visited villages and local communities and we have found that men above the age of 50 do not even know what the prostate is. Doctors who treat prostate cancer in Nigeria often complain that the patients come to the hospital when the cancer is already showing symptoms which is at the final stages.