The National Youth Service Corps and the Onyebuchi Chris Ifediora Foundation International have moved to expand a breast and cervical cancer awareness initiative to all 37 NYSC orientation camps across the country.

The push was made during a retraining session for NYSC officers and state campaign coordinators held in Abuja, where the foundation called on the scheme's leadership to back the nationwide rollout of the Arm Our Youths Anti Cancer Health Campaign.

The President of the OCI Foundation, Associate Professor Chris Ifediora, said the campaign was established to equip young Nigerians with knowledge on the prevention and early detection of breast and cervical cancers. Represented at the event by Lady Frances Nkem, he noted that the initiative received NYSC backing in 2021 and has since grown into one of the country's largest youth led preventive health programmes, with 26 editions already held across most orientation camps.

Nkem disclosed that the campaign currently reaches more than 500,000 corps members annually through cancer awareness and health education programmes. She added that outreach had expanded through volunteer networks, social media campaigns and the CerviBreast mobile application.

She urged NYSC officers and state campaign coordinators at the retraining to complete the foundation's online certification programme within two weeks, stressing that technology and innovation remain central to improving access to cancer prevention and healthcare.

The foundation also appealed to NYSC management to approve the establishment of the ArOY Health Campaign Community Development Service group, which would sustain awareness activities throughout the service year. Additional plans include strengthening cervical cancer screening at orientation camps and launching a Basic Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Emergency Response Strategies programme to train corps members in emergency response.

The Director of Community Development Service and Special Projects at the NYSC, Chief Chiwendu Chukwu, described cancer as a major public health challenge and reaffirmed the scheme's commitment to combating it through awareness, early detection and community education.

"The initiative would equip corps members with life saving knowledge to serve as advocates for cancer prevention in their host communities," Chukwu said.

He urged NYSC Schedule Officers to ensure effective programme implementation across their states and commended the OCI Foundation for its sustained public health contributions through the partnership.