Editor,

RE: "Screening children for cancer is crucial, says Childhood Cancer advocates” (The New Times, September 24).

It’s so encouraging and inspiring to see what happens when six people get together to address a national issue, especially an issue affecting the most vulnerable – our children.

Bravo Rwanda Children Cancer Relief and all those who participated in the walk.

It’s exciting to also witness national strides being taken to fight cancer in Rwanda: the silence that surrounds cancer is being broken, services are being improved as we gain specialised manpower and infrastructure, hope is replacing fear: "cancer isn’t a death sentence” and awareness/knowledge about this disease is exponentially increasing as life-saving information campaigns, outreaches, seminars, workshops and one-on-one encounters intensify and become part of our lifestyle.

This is cause for celebration because it means that we are in the process of owning the burden of cancer and, as such, we can work together to solve it.

Philippa Kibugu Decuir