The OCI (Onyebuchi Chris Ifediora) Foundation is an international charity organization with partners worldwide. It was founded by philanthropist and Associate Professor Chris Onyebuchi Ifediora. The foundation promotes and advances health, education, and social and public welfare for unprivileged people. It is a multi-award-winning non-profit organization and has received worldwide recognition and respect.
One of the OCI Foundation’s initiatives is the “Arm Our Youths Health Campaign,” famously known as the “ArOY Campaign.” It is a health promotion initiative that started in 2019, following the Foundation’s two years of annual health symposium on breast and cervical cancer preventive techniques.
The ArOY campaign aims to make breast and cervical cancer awareness campaigns in Nigeria and other low to lower-middle-income countries. The ArOY campaign is sustainable, affordable, and all-encompassing, targeting young, mostly teenage adults in high schools. The campaign’s cornerstone is the inclusion of breast and cervical cancer education and awareness into the regular academic curriculum of the schools, along with assessment systems across each of the final three years of Nigerian senior secondary schools. The OCI Foundation’s ideas, plans, and approaches for the ArOY campaign are primarily the innovation of the organization, developed through input from the Harvard Medical School.
The OCI Foundation has established enduring partnerships to ensure that as many young Nigerians as possible can benefit from this Campaign. Young Nigerian undergraduates in tertiary institutions, fresh graduates undergoing the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) program, and a few other groups are all being targeted by the ArOY Campaign. For each group, procedures are in place to ensure engagement with the teachings of the Campaign.
The ArOY Campaign was designed to introduce breast and cervical cancer preventive campaigns into the academic curricula of all high schools across Nigeria. This will be in phases, with Anambra State, their primary locality, being the first state to benefit. Following this successful introduction in Anambra State, the ArOY Campaign will be extended to the rest of the senior secondary schools (SSS) in all other Nigerian states and geopolitical zones. The roll-out across the Nigerian nation is expected to be complete on or before the Year 2025.
For the primary targets, there are three main aims:
Firstly, it is to increase the proportion of all (male and female) senior secondary school students with correct knowledge of the early symptoms, risk factors, and preventive practices of breast and cervical cancers.
Secondly, the organization aims to increase the proportion of female students who practice monthly Breast Self-Examination (BSE). To this end, the CerviBreast App was successfully introduced into the Android Google App Store in September 2019. This free mobile application is designed to stimulate compliance with this life-saving practice by sending monthly reminders.
finally, the OCI Foundation hopes to ensure that the knowledge gained from their interventions is sustained. The organization aims to achieve this through sustained and prolonged engagement with the necessary teachings in the decades to come.
The OCI Foundation ensures engagement by explicit teachings for each student cohort through SSS classes 1, 2, and 3. At each level, in-built assessment systems incorporated into the Campaign means examinations and quizzes. Each school gets multiple copies of free OCI’s ArOY Textbooks, which are donated at no cost to the schools by the OCI Foundation and deposited permanently in their respective libraries. This complements the education and helps ensure commitment.
The OCI Foundation’s ArOY Campaign is a crucial initiative to combat these diseases by empowering young adults with knowledge and awareness of the early symptoms, risk factors, and preventive practices of breast and cervical cancer. By targeting high schools and incorporating the teachings of the campaign into academic curricula, the foundation is ensuring that these preventive methods are ingrained in the minds of young Nigerian adults, making it easier to combat these diseases in the future.
In conclusion, the OCI Foundation’s Arm Our Youths Health Campaign is a significant step towards raising breast and cervical cancer awareness among young adults in Nigeria. By introducing preventive campaigns into high school academic curricula, the foundation ensures that young adults are equipped with the knowledge and awareness necessary to combat these diseases. With the Foundation’s enduring partnerships and sustainable approaches, the ArOY Campaign is poised to significantly impact Nigeria and other low to lower-middle-income countries.
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