Hannatu Ayuba, Consultant Radiation and Clinical Oncologist at National Hospital Abuja, CEO at CCI, shared a post on LinkedIn:
“Great Gratitude to my Creator for this honour!
Thank you Stephanie Shahini our Partnership Manager from CityCancer Challenge Foundation for receiving the award on my behalf.
The Speech read by Stephanie Shahini on behalf of Dr. Hannatu Usman Ayuba
(Yvonne Awards – Community Oncology Award)
‘Good evening, distinguished guests, fellow awardees, and friends of OncoDaily.
I’m Stephanie Shahini, and it is my privilege to accept the Yvonne Awards Community Oncology Award on behalf of Dr. Hannatu Ayuba Usman, who could not be here today.
Dr. Hannatu asked me to share her deep gratitude to the Yvonne Awards committee for recognizing the work happening in some of the hardest-to-reach communities in Nigeria.
This award does not belong to one person.
To the Cancer Consciousness Initiative team, thank you for your relentless commitment to bringing cancer awareness and education to villages and towns where the word ‘cancer’ is still spoken in fear.
To the TeleOncology Hub team at FMC Jalingo , Shefaa AlOrman International Cancer Hospital Luxor and our partner hospitals across the North East, thank you for staying on the calls, reviewing cases late into the night, and making sure that a patient in Kumo, Nguru, Garba Chede or Sardauna has access to the same multidisciplinary discussion as someone in Abuja or Lagos.
And to our Trainers and the women in the ASCO/City Cancer Challenge Leadership Program for Women in Oncology, thank you for proving that women can lead, heal, and change systems even when the odds are stacked against us.
I dedicate this award to our patients and survivors.
To the fathers in Taraba who travel 6-10 hours for a PSA test.
To the mothers in Borno who choose between transport fare and their next chemotherapy dose.
To the young survivors in low- and middle-income countries who face cancer disparities not because their disease is harder to treat, but because access is harder to reach.
Your courage is why we wake up and keep building systems that work for you. Your stories remind us that cancer care cannot be excellent if it is not equitable.
To the international community here tonight: the gaps in cancer care in underserved communities are real, but they are not unbridgeable. With partnerships, technology, and trust in community health workers and patient navigators, we can close them. Invest with us not just in machines and medicines, but in people – the navigators, nurses, and community leaders who turn medicine into healing.
And to our patients and their families: we see your pain, your hope, and your resilience. This award is a promise that we will keep walking with you until no one faces cancer alone and without care.”
On behalf of myself, Dr. Hannatu Ayuba and the entire teams we work with, thank you. May we continue working together for a world where geography is never a death sentence.
Thank you.’ “
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