Walking to raise awareness
Eluthandweni Maternity clinic hosted its annual breast cancer awareness walkathon in October. This was the eighth walkathon AfroCentric has sponsored since our partnership with Eluthandweni Maternity Health Services began in 2015.
The aim of the walkathon was to raise cancer awareness around the Kathorus community and surrounding areas. All AfroCentric staff were invited to be a part of the event and they were encouraged to bring family members and friends.
Although October is a breast cancer month, Eluthandweni didn’t only concentrate on breast cancer but also incorporated prostate cancer and Pap smear screenings.
Other basic screenings and tests that were completed on the day included:
HIV counselling and testing
HGT screening
Blood pressure screening
Weight and height
Body Mass Index (BMI)
A pink truck from Pink Drive was also on the ground, with experienced staff there to conduct health talks on breast cancer and offer breast cancer screening.
AfroCentric has a long-standing relationship with the Eluthandweni Maternity Health Services. We were the main sponsor for the construction of the clinic building in 2015 and also purchased three vehicles – a Venue Hyundai panel van, a Hyundai H1 and a Toyota Venture – for the establishment and converted two of them into ambulances.
We’ve also been sponsoring the clinic’s annual Pregnancy Awareness and Breast Cancer Awareness days since 2018, as well as International Nurse’s Day in 2022. To date, the Group has invested R2,6 million into the clinic through its CSI budget and an additional R2 million from its Enterprise Development programme.
Eluthandweni’s vision is to promote and maintain the wellbeing of mother and child in the Kathorus community and surrounding areas. Eluthandweni started as a birthing clinic but is now a fully equipped and functional clinic, assisting thousands of women on their birthing journeys. The clinic is open 24 hours, seven days a week and doesn’t have any holidays, enabling patients to fetch their medication at a time convenient to them so that they are not absent from work.
