Voices of NCDI Poverty Fellow Moses Echodu Shares His Cancer Story

Following World Cancer Day, childhood cancer survivor and Voices of NCDI Poverty Advocacy Fellow Moses Echodu shared the story of his journey with Burkitt lymphoma.

Moses Echodu pictured with his mother, Salome Opus Sally.

Echodu, who is from Uganda, was diagnosed with Burkitt lymphoma when he was nine years old. Although he faced barriers to care such as high cost and stigma, thanks to the support of his family he received treatment for one year and was declared cancer-free in 2000. Moses’s experience with stigma had such a negative effect on his life that he hid his history with cancer for many years. At a camp for cancer survivors in 2012, Echodu realized that by not sharing his story, he was hiding his true self. Now, Moses is a childhood cancer advocate and fights cancer stigma by sharing his survival story with the world.

You can read Moses’s entire story here.

In February, Echodu led a webinar in observance of both World Cancer Day (4 February) and International Childhood Cancer Day (15 February). The event featured 50 international cancer patients, survivors, care providers, and NCD advocates who shared their experiences and discussed strategies to eradicate cancer stigma and barriers to care. 

In the coming months, the Voices of NCDI Poverty Advocacy Fellows will lead webinars to raise awareness surrounding World Sickle Cell Day, World Heart Day, and World Diabetes Day. Eunice Owino will host the next webinar in observance of World Sickle Cell Day on 16 June.