FIJI Cancer Society (FCS) program manager Josephine Oyagawa says people in the country are unaware of their services.
Ms Oyagawa said they realised that FCS had to do more awareness, more screenings and more campaigns.
“We want to put it out to the public of the roles of FCS. “The preliminarily study that was done showed that 10 per cent of all deaths in Fiji was from cancer,” Ms Oyagawa said.
“Cancer is the third leading cause of deaths in the country. We have cardiovascular and diabetes as well. Cancer is a non-communicable disease and can be preventable with a healthy lifestyle.”
She said FCS procured medicines for cancer survivors that were not on the Government’s free medicines’ list.
“We also assist patients who need to go for overseas treatment. We help them procure their visas and passports. We also procure prosthetic bras ,” she said. “We go out to the communities and reach out to those who do not have access to bras.
“We work very closely with the Ministry of Health and Medical Services that provide us with data and statistics of all cancers in the country.”
She added every cent collected from Morning Tea initiatives helped the FCS to purchase medicines that were expensive.
