By Ruth Serwaa Asare
The Livingstone Foundation, founded by award winning musician Stonebwoy and his wife, Dr. Louisa Satekla, has once again demonstrated its commitment to health advocacy through its annual breast cancer awareness and free screening exercise this time at the African University of Communication and Business in Adabraka.
Speaking at the event, Dr. Louisa Satekla reaffirmed their dedication to promoting early detection and holistic healthcare. “I’m saying that this is something that we do every year as a foundation. Anyone who follows the Livingstone Foundation knows that every October we hold a free breast screening exercise,” she said.
She explained that the October initiative forms part of a broader health campaign by the foundation. “In January, we also try to create awareness about cervical cancer and then screen people as well. So October being Pinktober, we decided to come here. We’ve done markets, churches, and some schools. So today we’re here at the African University of Communication and Business in Adabraka to screen the young ladies and men here. And so far it’s been very good.”
The exercise included both breast and general health screenings, supported by sponsors providing medication for those diagnosed with health conditions. “By the help of our kind sponsors, who are also providing us with medication for anyone who’s diagnosed with any condition. Because you know most of the time when you go for a health screening, it’s just a diagnosis and then they write a prescription for you to go and buy. And sometimes you can’t afford the medication. So we’re very grateful for the kind support of Unichem Ghana,” she said. “We also have Milo on board to refresh us. Thank you very much Milo for coming on board. We have Verna Water,BelPack and Bigoo, who are also supporting us today.”
Dr. Satekla emphasized the importance of early detection in combating breast cancer. “Early detection saves lives. So as a foundation, what we’re doing is to come in early to help with that early detection, because most of the time breast cancer becomes a silent killer. You don’t notice it until it’s spread very far and wide in the body.”
She noted that previous screenings had led to early diagnoses and life saving interventions. “People have gone, we’ve detected lumps and we’ve gone ahead to do further investigations that we have detected cancer at very early stages. So that’s why we’re not joking with it. It’s not something that we’re doing here just to commemorate the month or to celebrate with other people. We’re doing it because we’ve seen the impact that it’s created in real life.”
Beyond the screening, Dr. Satekla said the foundation continues to use social media and school outreach to sustain health education. “We continue to use our platform and everywhere we get a chance to. Social media is such a great tool that I personally use to educate people. Also as a foundation, we do a lot of interventions in schools.”
She added that their advocacy extends to cervical cancer awareness and vaccination. “Cervical cancer is something we’ve been heavily propagating and pushing for early diagnosis and also for vaccination to prevent it… If you follow me on social media, you notice that I recently made a video talking about the new HPV vaccine campaign in Ghana. And that’s something that we have pushed for as a foundation and we are happy to see happen.”
Dr. Satekla encouraged the public to take advantage of free and discounted screenings available during Pinktober. “This is a great time to get screened because most facilities are offering discounts. Most of the emerging facilities are offering 50% discount, 20% discount. So if otherwise you would have gone to the hospital to pay a consultation fee and all of that, that would be something you don’t have to do in this month of October.”
Highlighting other community initiatives, she mentioned the foundation’s BHIM -Skills training program. “People were at home getting depressed so we came up with BHIM-Skills, which was a skills training exercise. The first one was held in Ashaiman and it was very successful. It was so successful that subsequently we had beneficiaries from the first ever BHIM -Skills training exercise coming back as tutors to teach other people.”
She further revealed upcoming outreach activities. “We actually have one donation coming up where we’re going to Hohoe to donate to the Hohoe Adabraka Health Facility there, which was supported by the First Lady. There was a maternity ward that was built by the First Lady. We’re going there to do some donations there as well.”
Dr. Satekla concluded by calling for partnerships and collaboration to sustain their impact. “Our sole financier as a foundation is Stonebwoy. Everything you see happening in the Livingstone Foundation is not backed by anyone, it’s coming out of Stonebwoy’s pocket. There are so many things that we plan to do, but there’s only so much that one person can continue to do. We’re very open to collaborations from corporate Ghana, from well-meaning Ghanaians who want to support us.”
The Livingstone Foundation’s continued commitment to preventive healthcare, youth empowerment, and community support has made it one of Ghana’s most active celebrity led charitable organizations.
