Female performing artists urged to test for cancer

PIC: Mariam Ndagire (third-left) with other performing artists during their first conference on Tuesday.(Credit: Stella Naigino)

WOMEN'S DAY

KAMPALA - To celebrate Women's Day, female performing artists have resolved to organise conferences every year, where they will share challenges and devise means of moving forward.

This year, they have decided to focus on using their career to ensure that they have a healthy life style.

Through these conferences, the artists were urged to go for cervical cancer screening to avoid being part of the statistics of deaths as a result of the disease.

Speaking at the first female performing artist's conference at Bat Valley Theatre in Kampala, Hanifa Nabalirwa, a medical personnel from Nsambya Hospital Cancer Ward, said cervical cancer was on the rise in women and that the only way to fight it was by getting screened.

Nambalirwa said cervical cancer can be cured if diagnosed early. However, she said most women report to the health facilities when the cancer is at an advanced stage.

She later taught the women how to do a self-help breast cancer screening.

Nambalirwa warned the artists against having multiple intimate partners and urged them to encourage their husbands to get circumcised to reduce their chances of contracting HIV.

The conference, which was organised by Mariam Ndagire under the them, Time is now, our talent our destiny, was the first of its kind.
Ndagire said that the conference was to allow female artists share their issues and get to know each other better.