Healthy teens school cancer programme touches lives of 1200 students

More than 1200 new students have been reached this year through the PNG Cancer Foundation move to make healthy lifestyle choices, according to the foundation’s health educator Jacob Oburi.
Speaking at the sixth cancer foundation awareness programme at Porebada Primary School in Central, Oburi said the healthy teens school programme encouraged students to stop chewing betel nut, smoking, drinking alcohol and to start eating healthful food and exercise regularly to reduce the risk of certain types of cancer in the future.
Oburi had been a health educator with the healthy teen programme since it started in 2016.
He said the workshop focuses on the importance of making healthy lifestyle choices to reduce the risk of developing cancer.
The foundation thanked Jacklyn Lahari, from the PNG Pepes netball team, who joined the programme, to talk to the students about her experiences as a professional athlete and how important it was for a person to make the right lifestyle choices to stay strong and healthy.
Lahari helped with the question-and-answer session at the end of the presentation and gave out merchandise to the participants.
Foundation programme coordinator Priscillar Napoleon thanked ExxonMobil for renewing its support as part of its annual contribution programme.
“Through their support, we have been able to reach out to more primary schools this year on the importance of cancer prevention,” she said.
Napoleon said through the sponsorship, the foundation visited four new schools this year.