Prevention & Screenings

PREVENTION & SCREENINGS

WAYS TO REDUCE YOUR CANCER RISKS

  1.   Do not smoke. Do not use any form of tobacco.
  2.   Take action to have a healthy body weight. Being BIG is good, but being HEALTHY is better and best.
  3.   Be physically active in everyday life. Limit the time you spend sitting.
  4. Have a healthy diet: -Eat plenty of whole grains, pulses (lentils, beans, peas and chickpeas), vegetables and fresh fruits.-Limit high-calorie foods (foods high in sugar or fat) and avoid sugary drinks. Avoid processed meat; limit red meat and foods high in salt.
  5. If you drink alcohol of any type, limit your intake. Not drinking alcohol is better for cancer prevention.
  6. Avoid too much sun, especially for children. Use sun protection. Do not use sunbeds.
  7.   In the workplace, protect yourself against cancer-causing substances by following health and safety instructions especially for people who work in factories and manufacturing companies.
  8. For women: -Breastfeeding reduces the mother’s cancer risk. If you can, breastfeed your baby. -Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) increases the risk of certain cancers. Limit use of HRT.
  9. Ensure you take part in vaccination programmes for: -Hepatitis. Epidemiological study reveals that 1 in every 8 persons in Nigeria is living with viral Hepatitis and about 22 million Nigerians are estimated to be infected with either HBV or HCV. 90-95% of Mother to Child Transmission of viral hepatitis ends in chronic hepatitis and in the absence of treatment, 15 – 25% of persons living with viral hepatitis will develop liver cirrhosis and/or liver cancer. Consider taking the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, it is safe and protects you against cervical cancer.
  10. Take part in organized cancer screening programmes for: Breast cancer (women), Cervical cancer (women) & Prostate cancer. Regular cancer screenings increase the chances of detecting certain cancers early, when they are most likely to be curable.

References

National Institute of Health (2015) Prevention. Access: March 18, 2017. Source: https://www.cancer.gov/research/areas/prevention

American Cancer Society (2015) Cancer prevention and detection. Accessed: March 18, 2017. Source:  https://www.cancer.org/healthy.html

 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2024, February 9). Hepatitis B: Clinical overview. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/hepatitis-b/hcp/clinical-overview/index.html. Accessed February 19, 2025.