…restates commitment to stemming the scourge 

By Moninuola Sulaiman 

Polaris Bank has announced that it has commenced breast cancer screening for its staff and customers meant to reduce the incidence of breast cancer in Nigeria.

The Bank’s Group Head, Strategic Brand Management, Nduneche Ezurike, made this known in Lagos while reiterating the Bank’s unwavering commitment and partnership to stem the breast cancer scourge among women.

Polaris Bank notes that increased awareness, screening, advocacy, and support will go a long way to reducing the incidence of breast cancer in the country.

The screening exercise, which is in its 4th phase, commenced in April and will hold once every month. It is open to the Bank’s interested female staff and customers. The screening exercise is in Partnership with COPE and holds at the NGO’s, Adeniyi Jones, Ikeja, Lagos Office.

Mr. Ezurike noted that healthcare is one of the pillars of Polaris Bank’s Corporate Social responsibility (CSR), stressing that its partnership with relevant public-spirited Non-Governmental Organisations, NGOs, like Care Organisation Public Enlightenment (COPE), Societal Healthcare Organisation (SHO), and Marcel Ruth Cancer Centre, has enabled it to contribute significantly to the reduction of breast cancer in the country.

The Polaris spokesman further noted, “In partnership with the aforementioned NGOs, we have covered five key milestones, namely, awareness, advocacy, capacity-building, prevention, and treatment in an ongoing effort to reverse the negative impact and trend of the scourge and other related health complications.”

“We have screened over 22,000 women, including female staff members of the Bank through our prevention program, donated three ultra-modern breast cancer screening machines to enhance quality diagnosis and clinical practices, sponsored the treatment of over 30 indigent cancer patients, and organized/Partnered on a 10-km/6-km walk with over 3,100 participants to draw public attention to the breast cancer scourge,” he said.

The President of COPE, Mrs. Ebunola Anozie, commended Polaris Bank for the support, care, and encouragement they have so far received from the Bank, stressing that the Bank has been a strong partner behind their initiatives for nearly 20 years now.

“For some time, we had difficulty getting the required support for the women. Some of our women used handkerchiefs; some used tissues to fill up their bras. But we are grateful for the timely support of Polaris Bank. They were able to donate prostheses that ensured our breast cancer survivors lived better lives”, Anozie added.

Polaris Bank also has several other initiatives to improve the well-being of the womenfolk in general in the country. In 2021 it organized a 3-day intensive capacity-building workshop in Northern Nigeria on life-saving skills for 50 community midwives and health extension workers, randomly selected from 80 percent public and 20 percent private hospitals in Kano State in partnership with SHO.

Additionally, in seeking ways to address social issues affecting women, and the most vulnerable groups in Northern Nigeria, Polaris Bank also worked in concert with a northern-based NGO and women-focused group, Sisters-Keepers Initiative, to organize a conference in Kano to exchange ideas on the scourge of child neglect, physical abuse, domestic violence, illiteracy, street begging, and child labour.

The Bank was adjudged Digital Bank of the Year in 2021 and 2022 by BusinessDay Newspaper’s Banking and Finance Industry Awards (BAFI) alongside other Institutions that recognized VULTe as Nigeria’s best digital Bank, like Nigeria FinTech Awards, amongst others.