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AFROCENTRIC GROUP PARTNERS WITH EKURHULENI - BASED CLINIC TO RAISE BREAST CANCER AWARENESS

Johannesburg – SA's largest JSE-listed and black-owned healthcare group,AfroCentric, is for the fifth year the main sponsor of Eluthandweni Maternity Health Services' Breast Cancer Awareness Day, which takes place on Sunday, October 16, in Vosloorus, Ekurhuleni.

The event will start with an 8km walkathon where participants will be given educational pamphlets with information on breast cancer. Following the walk, health talks and information sessions will commence, where a healthcare professional will offer tangible advice to the community.

The awareness day is a collaboration of efforts from AfroCentric Group, the Ekurhuleni municipality, Department of Health, Pink Drive, CANSA and Love Life to not only increase awareness, but to drive action and encourage those at risk to get screened and tested.

To this end, community members will also receive access to services such as breast cancer screening, health education on self- examinations, pap smear tests, TB screenings, and HIV testing, among others.

Said Palesa Makhetha, General Manager: PR, Branding, Marketing and Corporate Affairs at AfroCentric Group: "Healthier Together is AfroCentric's philosophy and one of the ways this is achieved is through empowerment of information. This initiative does just that- empowers people through information and actionable healthcare. We are always privileged to be a part of this project because we know how it benefits our communities."

According to Makhetha, breast cancer is one of the deadliest diseases in the world and there is no sure way to prevent it. However, she said it can be detected and the earlier the better. "If detected early, people have a chance to fight back and become survivors. People need to know about the dangers of breast cancer and be as informed as much as possible to ensure they know what steps to take if and when the time comes."

The vision of Eluthandweni Maternity Health Services is to promote and maintain the well-being of the mother and child in the Vosloorus community and surrounding areas. Makhetha hopes to see an increase in initiatives of this nature to ensure people are armed with the necessary information to fight cancer and other life-threatening diseases. This is in line with the AfroCentric Group's commitment to transforming lives by enhancing access to healthcare.

"We believe that by educating people about the diseases that could affect their health, we give them the opportunity to learn how to prevent them, because prevention is always better than cure," she said. "Through partnerships with organisations such as Eluthandweni, we are able to reach more people to achieve this objective," Palesa Makhetha concluded.