Zurak Cancer Foundation

Childhood Cancer - Overview Cancer is uncommon in children. Most cancers (99%) develop in adults, and it is most common in older adults. About one out of every six adults will develop cancer during his or her lifetime, while one in 300 boys and one in 333 girls will develop cancer before the age of 20. At the same time, there is a lot of research going on to discover new treatments for childhood cancer. This ongoing research has greatly improved the overall survival rate for children with cancer, which is now more than 80%. What is childhood cancer? Cancer begins when normal cells change and grow uncontrollably. In most types of cancer, these cells form a mass called a tumor. A tumor can be cancerous or benign. A cancerous tumor is malignant, meaning it can spread to other parts of the body. A benign tumor means the tumor will not spread. In leukemia, a cancer of the blood that starts in the bone marrow, these abnormal cells very rarely form a solid tumor. Instead these cells...

Cancer is an emerging public health problem in Africa. According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), about 715,000 new cancer cases and 542,000 cancer deaths occurred in 2008 in Africa. These numbers are projected to nearly double (1.28 million new cancer cases and 970,000 cancer deaths) by 2030 simply due to the aging and growth of the population, with the potential to be even higher because of the adoption of behaviors and lifestyles associated with economic development, such as smoking, unhealthy diet, and physical inactivity. Despite this growing burden, cancer continues to receive low public health priority in Africa, largely because of limited resources and other pressing public health problems, including communicable diseases such as acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS)/human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, malaria, and tuberculosis. It may also be in part due to a lack of awareness about the magnitude of the current and future cancer...

Zurak Cancer Foundation organized its second edition of Cervical Health Awareness Program at Madina-Zongo.  Zurak Cancer Foundation brought together various schools in the vicinity to educate the youth about cervical cancer. The event was attended by Abassiya Islamic School, Umar Bun Hatab Islamic School and An-Nida Islamic School. This event was targeted at getting the youth to under the risk factors of cervical cancer such as the Human Papillomavirus. Zurak Cancer Foundation took the students through the concept of cervix, the risk factors of cervical cancer, signs and symptoms, prevention, diagnosis and treatment option. The students were also educated on the main causative activities related to cancer which is smoking, unhealthy diet and physical inactivity. This initiative is aimed at encouraging the youth to foster healthy lifestyles to ensure cancer prevention which is the primary objective on Zurak Cancer Foundation. The event was also graced by distinguished personali...

Tafsiliya Islamic School popular recognized as the beacon of Islamic Education in the Zongos. Our Breast Cancer Awareness Program has come to an end and we are very glad with the response and the support from the public. The program was attended by Mr Abdul Samed Zurak (Chairman/Founder) and Mr Awal Swallah (Coordinator). Mr Awal Swallah is an alumni of Tafsiliya Islamic School and it was due to his recommendations we decided to undertake this endeavors. We believe cancer education plays a very vital role in the prevention process of the fatal disease. Recently, a study shows that 2,500 women in Ghana are affected by breast cancer yearly. We are hoping that in some years to come, the occurrence rate of breast cancer will reduce drastically. Preparations towards the program started two (2) weeks before the program with support from Mr. Mahmud the headmaster of the school. The event was held on 24th October, 2015 and it started at 9:30 am with our Chairman taking the students through th...

Breast cancer is very prevalent in Africa due to lack of education.We are facing this challenges due to the high illiteracy rate in Africa.Most individuals are facing these challenges especially when it comes to reading of precautions on the cigarette box which reads "smoking causes cancer".The rate of illiteracy has also inhibit our mobilization in our endeavors since getting certain aspects of individuals to understand our endeavors has been a problem.As Zurak Cancer Foundation, we are very much determined to conquer cancer in Africa and we will keep on pushing so hard to skirmish the suppressions we face as a team. We visited Nasrudeen Islamic School on 21st October, 2015 to deliver a Breast Cancer Awareness Program in the school. We took this initiative in other to breakdown the educational gap between the Islamic and Western education respectively. Prior to the program, we presented a letter to the headmaster of the institution explaining the need for a Breast Cancer Aw...

October is breast cancer awareness month. In our endeavors to tackle breast cancer, we developed an initiative known as The Breast Cancer Awareness Program. The Breast Cancer Awareness Program is an initiative to educate the youth most especially the females about cancer. In Africa, cancer is much prevalent due to lack of education, awareness programs and adequate resources. We believe this initiative will help educate the youth about the need to adopt healthy lifestyle and take preventive measures to the disease. On the 16th of October, 2015, our Chairman (Abdul Samed Zurak) visited Untoma Oxford International School to educate the young girls about breast cancer. The program was attended by girls from form 1-3 at the Junior High School level. Prior to the program, our chairman met with the headmaster of the school to discuss the initiative thoroughly. The headmaster was very impressed with the content of the education. The program started 7:30 am with Mr. Abdul Samed Zurak (Chai...