After suffering a seven year battle with breast cancer, which then spread to the brain, liver and lungs by May 2010, Elizabeth Chanakira lost her life to cancer on 23 December 2010. Throughout her illness, her daughter – Teurai Chanakira – realized how difficult it was for her mother to get treatment due to the exorbitant costs. She began to think of how marginalized cancer patients in the country could possibly afford it.
Upon further research, she discovered that cancer had become not only the leading cause of death globally, but that the Zimbabwe National Cancer Registry confirmed that it was the leading cause of death in Zimbabwe and the statistics were worsening. In all her research, including from bodies such as the World Health Organisation, the resounding evidence was that the majority of cancers are caused by poor nutrition and lack of physical activity.
It was then she decided to do something about it and so the Elizabeth Chanakira Cancer Trust (ECCT) was birthed in May 2011. The ECCT supports marginalized cancer patients and provides practical nutritional tools for better health.