With the inauguration of the training arm of the NSIA-LUTH Cancer Centre, which seeks to create a generation of well skilled medical professionals in cancer treatment and management in the country, a new horizon beckons for Nigeria’s cancer patients, reports Associate Editor ADEKUNLE YUSUF

 

It is an open secret that Nigeria, with an estimated population of about 200 million people, has a grim statistics regarding cancer incidence.

Besides recording an estimated 102,000 new cases of cancer yearly, the country loses no fewer than 72,000 lives annually to cancer, with breast and cervical cancer responsible for 50.3 per cent of all reported cases.

A combination of poor access to quality treatment facilities and outrageous cost of treatment abroad has sent many patients to their untimely graves.

This ugly narrative, which has made tongues wagging over the years about the parlous state of healthcare delivery system in Nigeria, is gradually giving way to brighter hopes for cancer patients in the country.

Thanks to a partnership by the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority and Lagos University Teaching Hospital, which led to the commissioning of the NSIA-LUTH Cancer Centre last year by President Muhammadu Buhari, cancer patients in the country no longer have reasons to travel abroad before accessing world-class treatment.

The world-class centre, located within the premises of LUTH in Idi-Araba, had since commenced full operations in May last year.

To further demonstrate its commitment to end the scourge of cancer and create sustainable structures for the benefit of Nigerians, the federal government has taken further bold steps towards deepening access to cancer treatment in the country.

In order to further exploit the benefits of having a world-class cancer treatment, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, has commissioned NSIA-LUTH Cancer Centre (NLCC) Training and Administrative Building in Lagos.

The project, a world-class training and administrative facility located  in LUTH, Idi-Araba, Lagos, is expected to provide an enabling environment where medical professionals can receive training, thus creating a generation of well skilled medical professionals within the country, especially in cancer treatment and management.

According to Ahmed, the purpose of NLCC is to create and enhance access to quality and affordable healthcare services to Nigerians, especially cancer patients who have to travel abroad for medical treatment.

She said it is unacceptable that about 40 per cent of funds spent by Nigerians on medical tourism comes from the pockets of patients seeking treatment for cancer. The minister reiterated that, with latest technologies and capacity to treat 80 patients per day, the centre will not only provide return on investment but will also make life easier for those who cannot afford cancer treatment.

“With an average cost of N900, 000 for different categories of cancer treatment, it is quite cheap compared to $10,000 in Ghana and about $15 in Europe and the United States. The cancer centre is built to enable patients obtain precise treatment they received abroad and would also minimise the need for medical tourism.

With the edifying technology that is obtainable anywhere in world, about 80 patients will be treating per day. The cost is affordable and everything about cancer is here; diagnosis of any type of cancer and treatment, training of doctors with high quality technology is also available.

In the case of the cancer centre, we can measure this value in currency, but we prefer to measure the value in terms of its social impact; the number of lives of Nigerians that will be saved and positively affected as well as the impact of capacity building for our people.

“What we want to do, going forward, is to have patients coming from all parts of the country, from our neighbouring countries and all over African continent.

And also to stem the tide of medical tourism, so that Nigerian citizens do not have to go to the neighbouring countries, Europe and US to obtain cancer treatment. What we have here is very high technology equipment that are obtainable anywhere in the world.

The training centre will upgrade the knowledge and skills of oncologists, radiologists, physicists and other personnel to provide excellent care to patients in Nigeria. When the investor, NSIA, recovers its investment, this centre will be handed over to LUTH, the same business model is being deployed right now.

The next centre will be commissioned at the Radiology Diagnosis Centre in Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, and also, a similar centre in the University Teaching Hospital, Umuahia; there would be others as well,” she said.

In his remarks, the MD/CEO of the NSIA, Uche Orji, said that his organisation keyed into healthcare investment because of its value chain, stressing that doing so will facilitate the delivery of high quality, affordable and accessible healthcare services to Nigerians.

“Since the commissioning of this centre by President Muhammadu Buhari, we had promised improvement in our quality treatment of cancer in Nigeria.

During our operation, we identified some deficit, in terms of skill and facilities that can help bring more people that will address the scourge of cancer, which is the reason we come up with this training and administrative centre.

“Today, we are proud of this investment. We spent about 12million Dollars on this project and we also have up to 10 more projects in our pipeline.

The facility has three external radiotherapy machines, one brachytherapy machine and a modern chemotherapy suite to treat patients with a diagnosis of cancer. So, Nigerian doesn’t need to spend money going abroad for treatment again,” Orji said.

The Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, represented by Minister of State (Health), Dr. Adeleke Mamora, stated that the Federal Government has continuously placed the issue of universal health coverage high on its agenda by interventions that provide health care services for citizens.

“So our people, patients suffering from cancer, will have no business going abroad again, because what they want to go for is already available here.

Any type of cancer can be managed from what is here, particularly the common ones that we know, breast, cervical or prostrate; those are the common ones that afflict our people here, and again at a very relatively cheaper rate. Because, you will not need to travel, you will not need to pay air fare and other things, usually you have to go with one or two persons to accompany you and these are extra cost.

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“Meanwhile, our major challenges in Nigeria are not lack of strategic and policies or evidence of interventions for implementation but rather on scaling up proven interventions, weak health systems, lack of infrastructure and inadequate skilled health personnel are some of the factors militating against the expected positive outcomes of investments made by many low resource settings such as Nigeria.

As we all know, cancer is a debilitating disease which affects not the sufferer alone but takes a toll on families, communities and the nation at large. It is, therefore, a great relief for the Federal Ministry of Health to see the NSIA partnering with LUTH,” Mamora said.

Also speaking, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State lauded the initiative that gave birth to the treatment and training facility, saying it will replicate the uniqueness and quality service LUTH is known for.

Represented by the Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, Sanwo-Olu said the state is delighted that the high technology development happened in LUTH, saying it’s a golden opportunity for the state and nation at large.

The LUTH Chief Medical Director, Prof Chris Bode, said that the centre is world-class and the facility can cater for 80 patients daily and provide training for over 80 healthcare professionals, among many others. According to him, the centre complements the NLCC’s primary strategy of offering in-country cancer treatment as it aims to ensure knowledge gaps in clinical techniques are bridged, continuous skill development of NLCC staff, adequate environment for research, training opportunities for resident and trainee clinicians across the country.

The centre, he said, houses state-of-the-art facilities that deliver world-class cancer care for Nigerians in a comfortable and safe environment as well as boasting highly skilled and experience oncologists.

The project is put together by the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) in partnership with LUTH, which undertook the conceptualisation, development and establishment of a modern cancer treatment centre.

Prof Bode said the fight against the killer ailment deserves all seriousness. Therefore, the multi-billion NSIA-LUTH Cancer Centre, acclaimed as one of the largest private-sector investments in public healthcare, provides a state-of-the-art citadel for overall management and treatment of various cancer cases.

The initiative became imperative to grant access and affordable treatment to categories of Nigerians who ordinarily should enjoy comprehensive healthcare within the shores of Nigeria, he added.

He said the NSIA-LUTH partnership is expected to address key challenges against Nigeria’s efforts in the treatment and management of cancer over the years: lack of access to radiotherapy, shortage of trained staff and maintenance of existing equipment.

The facility, already attending to patients from all parts of the country, is equipped with two Linear Accelerators, with a third already on the ship heading for Lagos. The two LINACS already installed and functional comprise the Halcyon (a Low-Energy, new concept equipment) and the Truebeam, a High-Energy LINAC.

The Halcyon in LUTH is the 44th of its type installed worldwide while the Truebeam is the second and latest version installed in the whole of Africa.

There is also a robust Treatment Planning System installed by Messrs General Electric which captures 3-D images of the cancer and enable specialists determine the site, size andshape of each lesion in order to effectively map out effective treatment while sparing nearby organs form harmful radiations.

A Brachytherapy machine to treat cervical cancer,prostate cancer and other cancers in hidden but approachable sites is yet another new addition to the anti-cancer armamentarium. In addition, the chemotherapy suite can accommodate up to 15 patients at any time.

A 10-year service maintenance contract was built into the purchase agreement to enable the centre give at least a full decade of uninterrupted service.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) stated that 70 per cent of cancer deaths in the world occur in low and middle-income countries.

To curtail this harvest of deaths, WHO recommends one linear accelerator per a million people. Perhaps with the newly inaugurated facility, which includes three external radiotherapy machines, one brachytherapy machine and a modern chemotherapy suite to treat patients with a diagnosis of cancer, the tide may change soon.