Rotary International President, Wife To Commission Projects In PH

As part of his visit to clubs in Nigeria, Rotary International President, Shekhar Mehta and his wife, Rashi, will be visiting Rotary District 9141. Rotary District 9141 covers Rivers, Bayelsa, Delta and Edo States. There are 120 Rotary clubs in this district made up of about 3000 Rotarians
President Shekhar, his wife and other Rotary leaders will be received at the Port Harcourt International Airport today by District 9141 Governor, Andy Uwejeyan, his wife, District leaders and club presidents.
While in Port Harcourt, Shekhar will inspect and commission three projects and plant three commemorative trees.
The projects to be commissioned include a project to address poverty and menstrual hygiene. About 650 girls from low income households would be taught menstrual hygiene and trained to produce re-usable sanitary pads
Unlike fellow African countries like Kenya and Uganda, which already have policies of free pads distribution to schoolgirls and Rwanda, which has removed taxes from all sanitary hygiene products to ensure low costs, Nigeria has done none of these, thus increasing period poverty.
Another is the cervical cancer screening and vaccination of girls: Cancers affecting the female reproductive system is a public health concern globally. With rising life expectancy, it is envisaged that the prevalence of this health concern will increase. Among the various sub parts, cancer affecting the cervix, which is the entrance to uterus, had contributed, to the global burden of gynaecological cancers.
World Statistics indicate that the 530,000 new cases of cervical cancer per year with 275,000 maternal deaths are recorded annually; 85 percent of these deaths are in underdeveloped countries. This translates to; in every two minutes a woman dies from cervical cancer.
In Nigeria, statistics indicate that about 36.59 million females aged between 15 years and older are at risk of cervical cancer with about 9922 women diagnosed with this disease and 8,030 dying from it annually. Cervical cancer occurrence had been linked to Human Papilloma virus infection persistence over a period of 10 -20 years, it is the most common sexually transmissible infection globally with a lifetime risk of acquisition of between 50-75 percent in every female.
In 2020, over 1,000,000 women were diagnosed with this disease and over 500,000 women died from the disease. A recognisable precancerous phase had been identified during which interventions can be done to halt the progression of disease. The aim of this project is to identify girls in the ages 9-12 years and offer immunisation against the HPV virus that causes cervical cancer with extended immunisation for 13-26 years.
Also, global grant project is a significant one for every Rotary Club. The Rotary Club of Port Harcourt Central in partnership with the Rotary Club of Wahroonga, Australia is providing 50,000 liters of water to Tonipirimaama, Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
Founded in Chicago, USA on February 23, 1905- Rotary is a global network of volunteers who share a passion for enhancing communities and improving lives around the world. Rotary clubs will celebrate this anniversary by participating in an array of service projects that address community needs at home and abroad – from fighting disease and providing clean water to supporting education, growing local economies and promoting peace.
Rotary’s top priority is the global eradication of polio – a paralysing yet vaccine-preventable disease that is now 99.9 percent eliminated from the world.
Rotary brings together a global network of volunteers dedicated to tackling the world’s most pressing humanitarian challenges. Rotary connects 1.2 million members of more than 35,000 Rotary clubs in over 200 countries and regions. Their work improves lives at both the local and international levels, from helping families in need in their own communities to working toward a polio-free world. For more information, visit Rotary.org.