To mark the month of Pink October, dedicated to the fight against women’s cancers, the Chamber of Mines of Burkina Faso has organised an awareness-raising session and free cancer screening. The event is held on 27 October 2023 in 3 villages for women from the Orezone Bomboré SA mine’s area of operation, in the commune of Mogtédo. The Association of Women in the Mining Sector of Burkina Faso (Association des Femmes du Secteur Minier du Burkina Faso – Afemib) took part in the event.
This awareness-raising and screening session on female cancers, held at the Orzone Bomboré SA mine, benefited 03 local communities, in particular those at the Nobsin, Mogtedo V3 and V4 sites. According to Priscille Zongo, Executive Director of the Burkina Chamber of Mines, this activity is a sign of the active solidarity that exists between women in the mining sector and women in mining localities. She went on to say that the event also provided an opportunity for women from the mining sector to get together and discuss social activities to help women in vulnerable situations.
With the aim of making this activity sustainable and ensuring that women receive effective care after screening, the organisers of the day have involved the various health centres in the areas concerned. Priscille Zongo says that the celebrations will rotate so that other women in the mining areas can benefit from awareness-raising, screening and appropriate treatment.
In terms of innovations for future editions, the Executive Director of the Burkina Chamber of Mines reassures us that her organisation and its partners will be working to increase the number of screening kits so that more women can benefit.
For the 2023 event, 200 screening kits were made available free of charge, but all the stock has already been used up and demand is still high in the field. This shows that the event was greatly appreciated by the beneficiaries mobilised in large numbers for the occasion. AFEMIB was represented in this activity by a team of 7 people who covered the three sites.
As a reminder, numerous partners, including AFEMIB, the Association of Geologists of Burkina Faso, the Club of Mining Students, mining structures and subcontractors of mining companies, took part in this celebration in Mogtedo.
Tiba Kassamse Ouédraogo
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