As part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives, Access Bank Plc, through its Access Women Network (AWN), has extended financial assistance to two breast cancer patients, reinforcing its commitment to women’s health and welfare.
The beneficiaries, Felista Enwerem and Olushola Seun, received N3.8 million and N3.032 million, respectively, to support their ongoing cancer treatment.
This follows the Bank, through its Access Women Network (AWN) free breast cancer screening and awareness initiative for 300 women carried out in November 2024.
The initiative, part of the bank’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) efforts, was aimed at improving community awareness of health issues that affect women and their families by bridging the knowledge gap, providing access to health checks and encouraging healthy lifestyle habits.
Speaking at the cheque’s presentation in Lagos, the executive director of Corporate and Investment Banking at Access Bank, Iyabo Soji-Okusanya reaffirmed the bank’s commitment to creating a positive social impact in communities where it operates.
She added that “we have tasked ourselves with the responsibility to continue to impact the communities and the markets where we do business. It is not just about making profits or having clients. It is about being known to be a leader in the place of impact. We must be able to positively impact life in the community where we operate.”
Zonal head, Commercial Banking Division, Access Bank, Vashti Samdi said that “this is a fallout of the outreach the Bank carried out in November, we had two people that reached out to us that already had been diagnosed.
“Our community, especially women in our society. So, we do everything that we can, not just from health perspective, but we do different initiatives to support the women in our community. This is one of those initiatives to provide awareness as regards to health and, where possible, provide support for treatment.”
Also, the chief customer experience officer at Access Bank, Virginie Nowak stated that Access Women Network is founded to empower women and support them.
She said, “our outreach of AWN is not just in Nigeria, it is across the continent where we partner in a lot of areas including education as well. We are in Kenya, South Africa and other countries.
“We have a strategy that focuses on five pillars across AWN and the continent. We go out actively to empower women.”
The CEO of Health Fusion, Dr Tokunbo Otitoju commended the Bank for its support, saying that “breast cancer is not just a diagnosis. It is a journey that requires resilience, strength, and a community to support people who have breast cancer.”
He stated that “the fund given by Access Bank is to offer hope to people with breast cancer and to say that they are not alone on this journey.”
The beneficiaries commended the Bank for their commitment to support them financially during their journey on their treatment.
