Cassava Smartech’s Maisha Health has unveiled a new partnership with Cancerserve Trust which seeks to assist Zimbabweans living with Cancer.
Through the
partnership, Maisha has committed a portion of its monthly revenue to
supporting cancer treatment of patients in Zimbabwe’s public hospitals through
the Cancerserve Trust.
Announcing
the ground-breaking partnership, Cassava Smartech CEO Mr Eddie Chibi said his
company would continue using innovation to address pressing societal issues and
to support worthy causes.
“Cassava
Smartech will, through its brands, continue to do well by doing good; to use
innovation to offer sustainable, technology-driven solutions that impact people’s
lives – including those fighting cancer or undergoing cancer treatment,” Mr
Chibi said.
The Founder
and Chair of Cancerserve Trust, Dr Anna Nyakabau, hailed Maisha for partnering
with her Trust, calling upon corporates and other organizations to follow suit.
“We are very grateful
to Maisha for this partnership and call upon other corporates to join hands
with Cancerserve Trust in bridging the funding gaps in cancer awareness,
screening and treatment in this country,” Dr Nyakabau said, adding that the
Maisha-Cancerserve Trust fund would primarily target breast, cervical, prostate
and colorectal cancers, which are the most prevalent cancers.
The
partnership comes as Zimbabwe joins the rest of the world this month (October)
in commemorating World Breast Cancer awareness month, which is also recognized
by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Dr
Nyakabau said cancer prevalence was high in Zimbabwe, currently estimated to be
affecting over 36 in every 100 000 people, compared to around 6 in every 100
000 in developed nations. She said she believed the partnership with Maisha
would help bring that ratio down.
WHO says the
majority of breast cancer deaths occur in low and middle-income countries,
where most women with breast cancer are diagnosed in its late stages, mainly
due to lack of awareness on early detection as well as due to barriers to treatment
and health services.
Maisha
leverages innovative mobile technologies to raise awareness, promote wellness
and enhance health services delivery, reaching over a million people that are subscribed
to the services in Zimbabwe and other African countries.
Dr Nyakabau
said the partnership with Maisha would strengthen Cancerserve Trust’s vision of
bringing together corporates, medical professionals, cancer survivors and healthcare
stakeholders to raise awareness of the various cancer ailments and lobby for
resources to stem the tide of the disease in Zimbabwe.
Maisha delivers
daily heath education and advice for healthy living and wellness via the mobile
phone. By subscribing to the service, users get the most relevant and tailored health
education on a wide variety of topics, ranging from stress management, weight
loss, oral health, diabetes and many more, in English and in local languages. Working
with local cancer specialists, Maisha has developed a new cancer content
package that raises cancer awareness, prevention, early detection and
treatment.
To subscribe
to Cancer Tips on Maisha Health, the public can dial *147# and receive valuable
cancer prevention and treatment education, as well as help to raise funds for
cancer treatment in Zimbabwe.