MESQUITE, TEXAS — About 22 underserved women in Mesquite received free breast and cervical cancer screenings on Friday, September 4, as the David Omenukor Foundation launched its 2026 awareness and early detection campaign. Organized with Methodist Health System ahead of October’s cancer awareness month, the program combined mammograms, health talks, and a community road walk to push early detection and break down financial barriers to care.
Dr. Keyna Omenukor, Founder and CEO, said the Foundation’s mission is rooted in personal loss. Established in 2015 in memory of her late husband, David Omenukor, the organization works to make healthcare accessible and to stop deaths from late diagnosis. “Cancer is extraordinarily dangerous. It thrives on silence, fear, and delay,” she said. “Screening is the ultimate weapon because early detection turns a deadly threat into a preventable, treatable condition.” Clinicians at the outreach identified several precancerous cervical conditions and breast lumps requiring immediate follow-up. Speakers also stressed regular self-exams, clinical screenings, and HPV vaccination for young girls, while urging men to support women in their families to get checked.
The Foundation called the Texas outreach the first step in a larger campaign against healthcare inequality. Plans are underway to extend free screenings to its Nigerian base in Owerri, Imo State, and to build a state-of-the-art cancer screening and treatment center on land already acquired in Nigeria. Dr. Omenukor appealed for partnerships with government, NGOs, healthcare institutions and the diaspora to deploy mobile mammography units and expand services to rural communities facing access and security challenges. “What we are doing today is just the tip of the iceberg,” she said. “Our goal is to build a compassionate, sustainable lifeline so that poverty never determines whether a woman gets life-saving cancer care.”
