Over shs100 million was collected from this year’s Rotary Cancer Run held virtually for fear of spreading Coronavirus.
Speaking about the event on Sunday, the Speaker of Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga commended Rotarians for their efforts to fight cancer in the country.
“The Rotary Cancer Run is one of those initiatives that very effectively demonstrate what can be achieved when the Public and the Private sector get together to address the challenges we have in our country,”Kadaga said.
“Cancer is not selective. Every man, woman and child has a risk factor, a risk we have to manage through our lifestyle choices and through the opportunity to test early. We are told that there are over 30,000 patients in Uganda that need cancer treatment and care and thousands more we may not know about.”
She applauded all partners who have ensured the event is always a success.
This year’s event which started with aerobics in the morning, had the participants run from the comfort of their homes and communities while watching the proceedings on the Uganda Rotary
Cancer program website, the Rotary Cancer Run and Centenary Bank social media accounts.
Buganda Katikkiro, Charles Peter Mayiga, who was one of the special runners urged Ugandans to continue supporting efforts to fight cancer.
Speaking during a post-run virtual participant engagement in Muyenga, the Past District Governor Stephen Mwanje expressed Rotary’s gratitude for the awe-inspiring support from Ugandans and people from all over the world over for running virtually.
“Unlike in the past, this year has seen us get overwhelming support from not only Uganda, but the world over. We have recorded much more support from the diaspora compared to last year, attracting some of the world’s greatest commendations for this virtual Rotary Cancer Run,”Mwanje said.
This year’s Rotary Cancer Run attracted global endorsements from renowned athletes like Tyson Gay, Bryan Habana, and Yohan Blake whose messages emphasized the importance of exercising, staying fit and eating healthy in the fight against cancer.
Among other endorsements were those from people in Canada, Egypt, Djibouti, Kenya, and Ethiopia.
“The collections being made this year are directed towards the construction of two bunkers at
Nsambya Hospital that will be housing the 2 cancer testing and treatment machines we hope to
import in the near future. Given the impact of cancer on our countrymen and the region, the bigger picture for Rotary is that, upon completion of the setup of the cancer testing and treatment center in Kampala, we will then move to four upcountry locations where we will setup four other state of the art centers,”Mwanje said.
The Centenary Bank Managing Director, Fabian Kasi said the bank will continue supporting efforts to fight cancer in the country.
“Centenary Bank has been part of the Rotary Cancer Run for nine years, contributing close to shs700m in the period. In spite of the limiting circumstances, as a bank, we have contributed shs100 million this year, on top of availing digital channels through which contributions were remitted this time around,” Kasi said.
“You are encouraged to continue in the spirit of contributing and offering support to the construction of the bunkers. We must acknowledge that the fight against cancer is not over, and very many people still require our help to fight this disease. I appeal to everyone here not to grow weary in this fight against cancer, but to keep hope and soldier on.”
To-date, the Rotary Cancer Run has raised more than Shs3 billion, part of which has been used to build the Rotary-Centenary Bank Cancer Centre in Nsambya Hospital and the Rotary Blood Bank in Mengo Hospital.
