Telecel supports fight against cancer

Telecel Zimbabwe today (Friday) expressed its support for efforts to combat cancer, through promoting greater awareness of the disease, its early diagnosis, research into its causes and effective treatment.

Handing over to the Cancer Association of Zimbabwe a donation from the company, Telecel Zimbabwe Human Resources and Administration head Findros Godzi announced that Telecel had become a corporate member of the association and had established a fund to assist members of staff suffering from cancer.

He also handed over donations to two Telecel staff members who are suffering from cancer.

While the donation to the Cancer Association of Zimbabwe came directly from Telecel, the donations to the two staff members came from fund-raising efforts by Telecel and its staff during the month of October, which was National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

As part of these fund raising efforts and in solidarity with those who are suffering or had suffered from breast cancer, Telecel staff members purchased and wore pink ribbons during the month of October. They also wore pink every Friday. Those who did not wear pink paid a fine, which went towards the fund raising efforts.

The Cancer Association of Zimbabwe also held workshops at Telecel Zimbabwe head office.

Towards the end of October, Telecel held a Fun Run to increase public awareness of cancer and raise funds for victims of cancer. The Fun Run began and ended at Sunrise Sports Club in Harare.

Presenting the donations to the Cancer Association and the two Telecel staff members suffering from cancer, Mr Godzi pointed out that, despite advances in its treatment, cancer remained a terrible disease.

"Even though great advances have been made in the treatment of cancer and probably more people than ever before are successfully treated for it nowadays, there remain types of cancer for which there is no effective treatment. Moreover the treatment itself is often unpleasant, frequently causing unpleasant side effects.

"Often cancer is detected at too late a stage to be treated effectively, which is why early detection is important," he said.

He commended the Cancer Association for the work it was doing in promoting cancer awareness and awareness of the symptoms to look out for that might indicate the presence of cancer. The earlier the cancer is detected, the better the chances of treatment in most cases, he said.

He said the association did a good job too in providing support for those who are suffering from cancer and in conducting research into the causes, prevention, diagnosis, treatment and cure of the disease.

"Telecel believes the work that the Cancer Association of Zimbabwe does is important. We are happy to support the association and we have now become a corporate member of the association," he said.