Runcie Chidebe: Privileged to meet Professor Emeritus Ian F. Tannock

Runcie Chidebe shared on LinkedIn:

“A few weeks ago, I was in Montreal, Canada, and was privileged to meet Professor Emeritus Ian F. Tannock – a renowned medical oncologist at the Princess Margaret Cancer Center in Toronto and a mentor to many oncologists worldwide.

Prof. Tannock engaged me to know who I am, and we started talking while walking to our dinner venue. Then, Prof. Tannock said: ‘we recently published The Lancet Commission on Prostate Cancer, and we cited a non-profit doing some work in prostate cancer in Nigeria’. Instantly, I became curious and asked, please, can you remember the non-profit’s name?

Instantly, I searched the internet to find out that The Lancet Commission on Prostate Cancer spotlighted Project PINK BLUE’s Menon Blue as an example of a prostate cancer patient navigation intervention playing an important role in public education in LMICs.

I am incredibly proud of this prostate cancer work because of five reasons. First, it took us over two years to find a funds for this project. Most donors/partners do not really give priority to men’s related cancer projects. Second, in 2017 the Aspire Coronation Trust Foundation provided us the first funding, and they saw the huge impact and continued to fund us for about three years. Third, Menon Blue was a pioneer prostate cancer project driven by a nonprofit in Nigeria and reached over 7 states nationwide. Fourth, we provided free prostate screenings to 1661 and followed the men for 6 months. We saved lives. A particular family whose father was diagnosed with prostate cancer continued to call us and appreciated us for saving their father from a late diagnosis of prostate cancer. Fifth, this is one of the projects that strained our team so much. We didn’t give up. We pulled through and received the BEST GRANTEE AWARD from ACT Foundation for our outstanding and exceptional work.

This feature from The Lancet – one of the top medical journals in the world and one of the oldest journals- means a lot to my team and me at Project PINK BLUE. It is a clear statement that hard work truly pays. More importantly, it is a reflection that in everything you do, do it excellently and focus on the goal. At Project PINK BLUE, we do not have all the funds for all the interventions that we want to roll out, but if you give us $1 to do A, we will ensure that we deliver a social return on investment worth your $1 and A and even more. Special commendation to our staff of 2017-2020 who delivered Menon Blue. Thanks to ACT Foundation for trusting us with your funds.”

Source: Runcie Chidebe/LinkedIn

Runcie C.W. Chidebe serves as the Executive Director of Project PINK BLUE and holds a position as an External Academic Board Member for the Birmingham and Lewisham African and Caribbean Health Inequalities Review.

With a background in psychology, research, and social entrepreneurship, Runcie is deeply committed to cancer control advocacy and global health consultancy.

He is dedicated to supporting underprivileged cancer patients, organizing free screenings for breast and cervical cancer in rural areas, fundraising for those in need, advocating for policy changes with governments, and providing specialized training for healthcare professionals in oncology and cancer awareness, including in local dialects.