Dr. Zainab Shinkafi-Bagudu is a woman who has lived all her life for humanity and what she believes in. She is a strong believer that life is all about upholding the tenets of mankind which are assisting the needy and downtrodden. With her God-given wisdom and talents, she has made sure she gave lifelines to many who should have lost their lives to deadly cancer. As the daughter of foremost politician and former presidential aspirant Alhaji Umar Shinkafi and now wife of Kebbi State Governor Atiku Bagudu, saving the lives of children, women with her knowledge as a trained medical doctor is a reason she has made her passion turn into her lifestyle.
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In the course of her career spanning over a decade, she has armed herself with a Master in Paediatrics, and a Diploma in Tropical Child Health and is a member of the Royal College of Paediatrics. She is also a Consultant pediatrician and an advocate for women’s health, with a particular focus on breast and cervical cancer research. Through her Medicaid Cancer Foundation (MCF), as part of ongoing activities to ‘Close the Cancer Care Gap,’ she is committing funds to ease the catastrophic effect of cancer on patients and their loved ones in partnership with the Nigeria Cancer Society as she launched a 50 million naira fund for cancer patients and indigenous research. The funds will be disbursed in partnership with the Nigeria Cancer Society to support indigent cancer patients and scientific research to advance cancer care in Nigeria.
This fund will help to increase access to clinical cancer care services following diagnosis in Nigeria and advance the quality of cancer care through indigenous scientific research. The fund will also support scientific research led by Nigerian scientists to advance the quality of cancer care management in Nigeria and on the African continent.
Bagudu disclosed that the growing number of cancer cases across Nigeria and barriers to treatment services gave birth to this partnership. Cancer treatment, which includes surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy, is vital to the curative management of most cancers.