THESE are definitely not the best of times for former Information Minister, Dapo Sarumi. Sources said he is battling a stroke-related ailment. The health condition of the Peoples Democratic Party’s chieftain was said to have worsened which was why he could not celebrate his 70th birthday last month.
Sarumi, who relocated to one of his properties in Agege from his Apapa home a few years ago, is also at war with some of his family members over a landed property in Lekki.
The Congress hall of the Transcorp Hilton Abuja was filled to capacity on Thursday, 5th June 2014. The event was the 50th birthday of the Managing Director of the Infrastructure Bank Plc, Chief Adekunle AbdulRazaq Oyinloye.
The audience were entertained with scintillating jokes from comedian Agoda (I Go Die).
The list of dignitaries that graced the occasion included the honourable minister of Special Duties, Alhaji Tanimu, Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr Doyin Okupe, the director general of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), representatives from NEXIM, NDIC, as well as other top management staff of Infrastructure Bank Plc.
LAST week’s All-Political Parties Summit in Abuja was revealing. It exposed in all its damnable and bothersome details the poverty of reason among Nigeria’s political elite. For today, ignore President Goodluck Jonathan’s far-fetched ideas about 2015. Instead, let us focus on the ideas of PDP chairman Adamu Mua’azu, whose argument on what constitutes political provocation is itself provocative. Speaking during the summit on why PDP supporters and the police joined forces to attack APC supporters and the state governor shortly after the President addressed a party rally in the state, Alhaji Mu’azu veered into misogyny and simplistic psychology.
“I wonder why the APC would use brooms to sweep off our footprints each time our party goes to campaign in states under their control,” he began on a misogynistic note unusual for a man of his political standing and education as a double Master’s degree holder. “It was equally wrong for the APC to go to the stadium in Ekiti State immediately after our rally in the state to sweep off our feet. I was worried about such conduct and I don’t know when men started carrying brooms.” If traces of PDP supporters’ feet were erased by sweeping, why should that humorously symbolic action attract a violent reprisal? And what is it about men holding brooms? Is sweeping, in his social psychology, the exclusive preserve of women?
Then, more horrendously, Alhaji Mu’azu confirmed what seems to be the Jonathan government’s negativist and reactionary approach to the Chibok abductions, an approach that complicates the rescue of the abducted schoolgirls and undermines the constitution. Said Alhaji Mu’azu: “Initially, I thought the “Bring Back Our Girls” protests were well intentioned. That was why I asked my Chief of Staff, the former FCT Minister, to represent us, and for two days, he was there. Little did I know it was opposition protests against the Federal Government. But I want to remind us that the war against the abduction of the girls should not be politicised.” Phew!!!
Now, we know where the FCT police commissioner, Mbu Joseph Mbu, got his inspiration to ban protests in Abuja. Now, also, we know why the Jonathan government is sluggish about the abductions. And we now know why the Jonathan presidency and the PDP display gross miscomprehension of issues and pernicious contempt for the constitution.
Hailmary Aipoh is a woman of many parts. The Abuja business woman is also the FCT woman leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC). She shares with Yetunde Oladeinde her humble beginnings, initial challenges and the turning point in her life.
YOU are a woman of many parts. How did all these start for you?
I read Agriculture in the University and I later worked in the Ministry of Agriculture as an extension officer in the FCT at the beginning of my career.
I like to play with food and that is what took me to the catering business. Apart from, this I am into importation and I do a number of supplies. The journey into the catering business started when I was young and I always enjoyed organising events for friends and family members. I was also the leader of the protocol unit of my church, the Living Faith Church.
God is a master strategist and a master arranger. At a point, a man of God just called me and said that they had been to my place and found the food and environment to be great. So any time a pastor is visiting, I was put in charge of the arrangements and that was how it all started. So, I started cooking for men of God and whenever Bishop David Oyedepo came to town, I was the one cooking for him. Then one day, Bishop Oyedepo said I should think of making the cooking commercial and I told him then that I was still in paid employment.
I began to give the idea a thought and resigned after 10 years. It was at this point that I realised that there was money in business unlike the peanuts that you get on the job. I got referrals for weddings, birthdays as well as worked with organisations like the United Nations as well as cooking for board meetings. Gradually, I became an established caterer and had all the utensils that you can think of. I had trained personnel, chefs, waiters and waitresses.
Is it true that catering is one of the easiest businesses to establish and run?
When I hear people say this, I laugh. You need to have the technical knowhow; it is not just about cooking alone. You must know how to manage the workers and have to be there. If you want to excel, you must have the basic knowledge because workers can disappoint you. There was a time that I had a contract for an event for the United Nations for finger foods for tea breaks between 8 and 9am. I slept off and at about 9pm the previous day, something just said move to the restaurant. When I got there, lo and behold, the two chefs were not there. I had to remove my clothes that night and began to do the job to meet the deadline. If I didn’t know how to do it, how would I have coped? What would I tell those who gave me the job? You must know the rudiments of the business to excel. I like entertainment, everything concerning parties like mascots, rentals as well as kitchen utensils which I ship in from Dubai.
How do you combine your busy schedule?
It is the grace of God. When you have the grace of God, it makes things easy. When I look back and compared what it was like when I started and now, I marvel. I give God the glory. Can you believe that it was actually another pastor who gave me money to start the business? He just said: “Madam, I think you are wasting away, go into the business.” I hesitated at that point and he gave me N5,000 to start the business and I turned it around. In any business that you do, it is important to be disciplined when it comes to funds. When people ask me for the secret to my success, I tell them that I did not eat my future. At the beginning, I kept all my money for business. I kept a low profile and did not buy clothes. I had a distributorship with Coca-cola and God gave me the strength. I was a jack of all trades, master of all.
Did you get into politics through catering?
No, I didn’t. Funny enough, I have never done that for them. I usually tell people that I play with food and it may not really occur to them that I am into catering. My journey into politics started one day after attending a service where Pastor Matthew Ashimolowo ministered at KICC. He came in from London to talk to us and he said that the government is upon our shoulders.
He added that we keep complaining but we need to ask ourselves how we can grow the politics of the nation. When the righteous are in place the people rejoice. He informed that it was better for the children of God to have and leave a legacy for posterity. If God’s people are not in governance then we should not expect miracles. Stressing the need to have a good political class and a turnaround, Ashimolowo admonished us to think about the matter.
How do you affect people and how do you affect the nation? I like to touch lives as well as love to see transformations that are positive in the society. So, I started thinking about the message and how to make a change. It was at that point that I had an eye opener; I said to myself, this message is for you. I got provoked and that was a turning point in my life.
In the past, the thing that caught our attention was the argument that politics was for useless people, for illiterates or women who were not responsible. If we are children of God, we should not shy away from politics. While I was doing the self examination, I told myself that if I wanted to affect people I could not do this through food or the other businesses that I was into. So that was how it all started for me in the political arena.
At what point did you get into mainstream politics?
I started doing my research in the background to understand the new terrain that I was about to launch myself into. Then one day, we were in a business meeting where a male colleague said he was going to the ACN secretariat in Abuja to register and I went with him. It is a process and I had to start from the grassroots in 2008. Currently, I am the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) woman leader for APC in Abuja. As you know, Abuja is the host and I am here to build the capacity of our women.
What are some of the strategies that you think would take women in politics to the next level?
Many women look at politics as dirty. Politics is not dirty but we have dirty players. We are having a reorientation for our women now. This is not the era for women to sit on the fence, we need to take our place and help to rebuild the nation. Luckily, APC women leaders are women to be reckoned with; women who have something upstairs and they know what they want. In Abuja, we want to be a force to reckon with. Those who didn’t go to school, we advise them to go back to school. It is important to build a critical mass of women and be able to support ourselves. We should be able to leave legacies for the future. We should be women of purpose, women of influence and affect lives positively.
If we go into your wardrobe, what are we likely to find?
Interestingly, I design my clothes myself. I am a very creative person and I always tell my tailors to do things the way I want. I like to dress well; I like good clothes and accessories. When I travel, I shop for clothes that are unique and exclusive. I also like to wear the African fabrics and I have a number of them in my collection. Here, I admire a number of our designers, especially Adeola Sagoe.
A recent report on Nigeria by the Cervical Cancer Free Coalition (CCFC) tagged “crisis card” notes that about 26 Nigerian women die of cervical cancer daily, and with the recent death of a former Information Minister and ex Director-General of NAFDAC, Mrs Dora Akunyili by cervical cancer, Assistant Editor, Investigations, JOKE KUJENYA, examines the prevalence of the ailment in the country.
EACH year, new cases of cervical cancer are diagnosed worldwide. And despite non availability of reliable statistics, Nigeria reportedly has the 10th highest number of deaths from cervical cancer globally.
In January 2014, the Society for Family Health (SFH), reported that cervical cancer killed about 9,659 women in the country. Elaborating on the development, Mr. Bright Ekweremadu, Managing Director, SFH, said most women get Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), infection at least once in 50 years. He said it is only a few of them that develop cervical cancer. According to him, next to breast cancer, cervical cancer, which claims the life of about 9,659 women annually, is the second most frequent cancer among women in Nigeria.
He also noted that about 24.8percent of women in the populace harbour the HPV, the causative virus of cervical cancer in women including genital warts in both men and women.
Experts say that cancer of the cervix, usually caused by HPV, is often transmitted through sexual intercourse. Sadly, it has continued unabated killing women in Nigeria.
On the morning of June 8th, news began to filter across the globe that Mrs. Dora Akunyili, had succumbed to death, after spending four weeks in a Specialist Cancer Hospital, Bangalore, India, where she had gone for treatment, due to cervical cancer. Nigeria stood still.
A few months prior to that, Nigerians were jolted to see a shaggy picture of the once robust Akunyili when she got up to make some comments during a session at the ongoing National Conference in Abuja. However, few days later, she had said “I just need to put on some weight. There is a saying in Igboland that says, let the sickness take the flesh but leave the bones because with time, the bones would grow new flesh. I just came out of major sickness, for which I thank the Almighty God for delivering me. I know that God did that for a purpose, this national conference being part of that purpose. I am well now but only need time to put on more weight. Cancer is indeed a killer disease. Please remember me in your prayers…”
Further reports have it that she had stayed back in the country about 48hours after which she also allegedly succumbed to bouts of coma before she was eventually taken to India for proper treatment.
As the nation mourns the late Mrs Dora Akunyili, considerable number of all women who die of cervical cancer live in just five countries namely: Brazil, Bangladesh, India, China, and Nigeria, in addition to Africa being identified as the most dangerous place to be a woman with cervical cancer.
According to experts, cervical cancer is cancer that forms in the cervix, the lower narrow part of the uterus (womb), often referred to as the neck of the womb, and it is the most common cancer in women under 35. They said that while the main cause remains the HPV virus, early cell changes can be found through screening.
Ekweremadu, speaking at the formal presentation of Cryotherapy Machine for the detection of cancer by SFH in Abuja, also said cervical cancer occurs in midlife and that most cases are found in women younger than 50. He also added that it rarely occurs in women younger than 20 while women over 50 are still at risk.
Prof. Shima Gyoh, Chairman, Board of Trustees, SFH, explained that although cervical cancer was transmitted through sexual intercourse, it usually manifests in women between 40 years and above. He noted that it spreads via uncontrolled growth and spread of abnormal cells in the cervix, the narrow opening of the womb into the vagina. Noting that it has been recognised as the most common female cancer in developing countries with approximately 500,000 new cases and 250,000 deaths occurring each year across the world; experts say a woman dies of cervical cancer every two minutes!
A recent Cervical Cancer Crisis Card launched globally by the Cervical Cancer Free Coalition (CCFC), put the yearly death count from the five top-ranked countries at 137,817, compared to an estimated 275,000 annual total deaths from 500,000 new cases recorded in the 50 countries surveyed in past years. The CCFC Crisis Card rated global countries according to the number of deaths from cervical cancer and the mortality rate from the disease. It states that Nigeria and 49 other countries were selected to provide a snapshot of the world and reflect geographic, economic and population variations.
Also based on 2013 reports from health journals, cervical cancer is the second commonest female cancer worldwide with 529,000 cases and 275, 000 deaths per year with an estimated 25,000 new cases of the ailment making Nigeria to record 480 cases per week, according to a Consultant Obstetrics/Gynaecologist, Usmanu Danfodiyo of the University Teaching Hospital (UDUTH), Sokoto.
Based on a study conducted in Ibadan, aimed at determining the level of cervical cancer awareness in the city, of the total 172 female respondents between ages 15 and 65, a considerable 123 of them representing about 71.5 percent, knew about cervical cancer screening, about 12, 9.8percent had done the Pap smear test, and out of which nine of the 75.0percent have had the disease detected in their bodies.
“The major challenge in Nigeria, as we had in the incidence of HIV/AIDS is that, we, doctors, medical practitioners, are not, in line with the ethics of our discipline, allowed to disclose the status of our patients without their consent. It does not however preclude the alarming fact that scores of Nigeria women daily attend the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), and indeed, other teaching hospitals across the country, plus other centres of course, for treatments of cervical cancer. And this particular cancer is dubbed invasive because of its peculiar nature of attacking adjacent tissue; i.e., having or showing a tendency to spread from the point of origin to adjacent tissue, as some other cancers do, said a Consultant Oncologist at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital.
In its diagnoses of cervical cancer, the American Cancer Society estimates that 11,270 were made by the end of 2009 with over 4,000 women in the country dead from the ailment yearly. In UK, over 3,000 women, according to the National Health Service (NHS), were yearly diagnosed with cervical cancer causing 941 of deaths in 2007. Also, the WHO said at least 200,000 women worldwide die of cervical cancer each year. The agency however added that if the HPV vaccine is administered globally, hundreds of thousands of women lives each year could be saved.
And according to the CCFC projections, by 2030, almost half a million women will die of cervical cancer, with over 98 percent of these deaths expected to occur in the developing low and middle- income countries.
Prevalence rates
Health experts say that although the condition is readily detectable in its premalignant stage, cervical cancer remains the second most common cancer in Nigeria and fifth in the United Kingdom (UK). Among the Nigerian female population, it is said to be the most prevalent. In 2007 alone in Nigeria, it was reported that 36.59 million women aged 15-44years were at risk of developing cervical cancer. However, there are 9,922 cases diagnosed annually with 8,030 deaths. HPV prevalence was at 24.8percent as incidence of cervical cancer in Nigeria was at 250 per 100,000 women.
In the outcome of a survey conducted by three professors of health in Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, they noted that of the total 260 women administered with questionnaires, the results showed that the respondents displayed fair knowledge of cervical cancer. 43.5percent of the also showed they knew about screening while their knowledge of risk factors was low. About 80.4percent of them also exhibited a generally good attitude to cervical cancer screening. Sadly, their level of practice was 15.4percent poor.
Quoting World Health Organisation (WHO), United Nations (UN), the World Bank and IARC Globocan, the CCFC said the mortality rate and death count highlight the inequity women face depending on where they live showing that the top ten countries with the highest cervical cancer mortality rates are found in Africa with Sub-Saharan Africa grappling with 22 percent of all cervical cancer cases worldwide.
The CCFC in its data shows that more women die of cervical cancer in India, relatively ranked No 1, than other parts of the world. Next is Zambia with 38.6 deaths per 100,000 as the second highest mortality rate. Australia has 1.4 deaths per 100,000 standing as the lowest. Norway ranks 50 recording the least number of deaths. Nigeria on the records, rank 10th having a cervical cancer mortality rate of 22.9 deaths per 100,000.
It is also reported that over fifty percent of cervical cancer diagnoses occur in women from ages 35 to 54, with only a fragment of about 20percent in women over 65years of age. The average age of diagnosis is also said to be 48years even as about 15percent of women develop cervical cancer between the ages of 20 and 30. It is reportedly very rare in women below age 20. However, many young women with early abnormal changes who do not have regular examinations are at high risk for localised cancer by age 40, and for invasive cancer by age 50.
Risk Factors and Causes
knowledge of cervical cancer is considered abysmal among Nigerian women. This factor is similarly responsible for prevalence of precancerous lesions and cervical cancer in South African women. And while it is medically established that HPV is the main risk factor for cervical cancer in women, it is also affirmed that the salient cause sexual interaction with an infected person.
CCFC, Executive Director, Dr. Jennifer Smith, in a report, explained that generally, cancer is often the off shoot of the uncontrolled division of abnormal cells. Most of the cells in the human body have a set lifespan; when they die new cells are produced to replace them. But abnormal cells usually have two problems. One is they don’t die. And secondly, they continue mutating. Then, this result in an excessive accumulation of cells which eventually form a lump also called a tumour. Till date, scientists have not been able to decipher why cells become cancerous. This is why it is vital for people to know the increased risks of developing cervical cancer.
“As it has been medically proven, cervical cancer, in its stages of growth, begins at the neck of the uterus, that is, the womb. It then divides into microscopic cells which can only be viewed through a microscope.”
Symptoms and types
WHILE cervical cancer is easily spoken about, not many are aware of its varying types. It is, however, important to know this so that appropriate treatment could be applied in each presentation of cervical cancer.
A Professor of Oncological Gynaecology at the University of Lagos Teaching Hospital, LUTH, Idi-Araba, Lagos, Dr Rosa, said knowledge and awareness of cervical cancer, a preventable disease, is very low while the toll of ailment on Nigerian women is very high. She thus argued that there is need for cervical cancer in Nigeria and in sub-Saharan to be given the same priority as HIV, malaria, tuberculosis and other forms of communicable diseases. She said it is high time for governments in these regions to be responsive to the wake-up call.
With other health officials, cervical cancer symptoms are given as:
Bleeding between periods
Bleeding after sexual intercourse
Bleeding in post-menopausal women
Discomfort during sexual intercourse
Smelly vaginal discharge
Vaginal discharge tinged with blood
Pelvic pain and a few others…
The experts said it is important for women to be alert to these warning signs. In fact, during the early stages, those affected may even experience no symptoms at all. It is thus vital again for sexually active women to have habitual cervical smear tests. In all, it is important to recognise cervical cancer as a completely preventable disease.
Prevention and treatment
According to Dr Smith, cervical cancer, no matter how aggressive in the latter stages, is actually a preventable disease. Sadly, so many deaths are recorded across the world.
She noted “It is a disease that can radically be reduced through vaccination, screening and public enlightenment. And to help our women go for screening and vaccination, it is also the collective responsibility of everyone to help them know about the disease, citing Australia’s successful control of the disorder to the country’s successful rollout of a comprehensive package of HPV vaccines, treatment and prevention.
Professor Isaac Adewole, Vice Chancellor of University of Ibadan, a medical doctor said “Early screening methods and prompt treatment are critical interventions that can save women’s lives. What is required of us all is a renewed commitment to saving the lives of our women and preventing a preventable death from the disease.”
EACH year, new cases of cervical cancer are diagnosed worldwide. And despite non availability of reliable statistics, Nigeria reportedly has the 10th highest number of deaths from cervical cancer globally.
In January 2014, the Society for Family Health (SFH), reported that cervical cancer killed about 9,659 women in the country. Elaborating on the development, Mr. Bright Ekweremadu, Managing Director, SFH, said most women get Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), infection at least once in 50 years. He said it is only a few of them that develop cervical cancer. According to him, next to breast cancer, cervical cancer, which claims the life of about 9,659 women annually, is the second most frequent cancer among women in Nigeria.
He also noted that about 24.8percent of women in the populace harbour the HPV, the causative virus of cervical cancer in women including genital warts in both men and women.
Experts say that cancer of the cervix, usually caused by HPV, is often transmitted through sexual intercourse. Sadly, it has continued unabated killing women in Nigeria.
On the morning of June 8th, news began to filter across the globe that Mrs. Dora Akunyili, had succumbed to death, after spending four weeks in a Specialist Cancer Hospital, Bangalore, India, where she had gone for treatment, due to cervical cancer. Nigeria stood still.
A few months prior to that, Nigerians were jolted to see a shaggy picture of the once robust Akunyili when she got up to make some comments during a session at the ongoing National Conference in Abuja. However, few days later, she had said “I just need to put on some weight. There is a saying in Igboland that says, let the sickness take the flesh but leave the bones because with time, the bones would grow new flesh. I just came out of major sickness, for which I thank the Almighty God for delivering me. I know that God did that for a purpose, this national conference being part of that purpose. I am well now but only need time to put on more weight. Cancer is indeed a killer disease. Please remember me in your prayers…”
Further reports have it that she had stayed back in the country about 48hours after which she also allegedly succumbed to bouts of coma before she was eventually taken to India for proper treatment.
As the nation mourns the late Mrs Dora Akunyili, considerable number of all women who die of cervical cancer live in just five countries namely: Brazil, Bangladesh, India, China, and Nigeria, in addition to Africa being identified as the most dangerous place to be a woman with cervical cancer.
According to experts, cervical cancer is cancer that forms in the cervix, the lower narrow part of the uterus (womb), often referred to as the neck of the womb, and it is the most common cancer in women under 35. They said that while the main cause remains the HPV virus, early cell changes can be found through screening.
Ekweremadu, speaking at the formal presentation of Cryotherapy Machine for the detection of cancer by SFH in Abuja, also said cervical cancer occurs in midlife and that most cases are found in women younger than 50. He also added that it rarely occurs in women younger than 20 while women over 50 are still at risk.
Prof. Shima Gyoh, Chairman, Board of Trustees, SFH, explained that although cervical cancer was transmitted through sexual intercourse, it usually manifests in women between 40 years and above. He noted that it spreads via uncontrolled growth and spread of abnormal cells in the cervix, the narrow opening of the womb into the vagina. Noting that it has been recognised as the most common female cancer in developing countries with approximately 500,000 new cases and 250,000 deaths occurring each year across the world; experts say a woman dies of cervical cancer every two minutes!
A recent Cervical Cancer Crisis Card launched globally by the Cervical Cancer Free Coalition (CCFC), put the yearly death count from the five top-ranked countries at 137,817, compared to an estimated 275,000 annual total deaths from 500,000 new cases recorded in the 50 countries surveyed in past years. The CCFC Crisis Card rated global countries according to the number of deaths from cervical cancer and the mortality rate from the disease. It states that Nigeria and 49 other countries were selected to provide a snapshot of the world and reflect geographic, economic and population variations.
Also based on 2013 reports from health journals, cervical cancer is the second commonest female cancer worldwide with 529,000 cases and 275, 000 deaths per year with an estimated 25,000 new cases of the ailment making Nigeria to record 480 cases per week, according to a Consultant Obstetrics/Gynaecologist, Usmanu Danfodiyo of the University Teaching Hospital (UDUTH), Sokoto.
Based on a study conducted in Ibadan, aimed at determining the level of cervical cancer awareness in the city, of the total 172 female respondents between ages 15 and 65, a considerable 123 of them representing about 71.5 percent, knew about cervical cancer screening, about 12, 9.8percent had done the Pap smear test, and out of which nine of the 75.0percent have had the disease detected in their bodies.
“The major challenge in Nigeria, as we had in the incidence of HIV/AIDS is that, we, doctors, medical practitioners, are not, in line with the ethics of our discipline, allowed to disclose the status of our patients without their consent. It does not however preclude the alarming fact that scores of Nigeria women daily attend the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), and indeed, other teaching hospitals across the country, plus other centres of course, for treatments of cervical cancer. And this particular cancer is dubbed invasive because of its peculiar nature of attacking adjacent tissue; i.e., having or showing a tendency to spread from the point of origin to adjacent tissue, as some other cancers do, said a Consultant Oncologist at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital.
In its diagnoses of cervical cancer, the American Cancer Society estimates that 11,270 were made by the end of 2009 with over 4,000 women in the country dead from the ailment yearly. In UK, over 3,000 women, according to the National Health Service (NHS), were yearly diagnosed with cervical cancer causing 941 of deaths in 2007. Also, the WHO said at least 200,000 women worldwide die of cervical cancer each year. The agency however added that if the HPV vaccine is administered globally, hundreds of thousands of women lives each year could be saved.
And according to the CCFC projections, by 2030, almost half a million women will die of cervical cancer, with over 98 percent of these deaths expected to occur in the developing low and middle- income countries.
Prevalence rates
Health experts say that although the condition is readily detectable in its premalignant stage, cervical cancer remains the second most common cancer in Nigeria and fifth in the United Kingdom (UK). Among the Nigerian female population, it is said to be the most prevalent. In 2007 alone in Nigeria, it was reported that 36.59 million women aged 15-44years were at risk of developing cervical cancer. However, there are 9,922 cases diagnosed annually with 8,030 deaths. HPV prevalence was at 24.8percent as incidence of cervical cancer in Nigeria was at 250 per 100,000 women.
In the outcome of a survey conducted by three professors of health in Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, they noted that of the total 260 women administered with questionnaires, the results showed that the respondents displayed fair knowledge of cervical cancer. 43.5percent of the also showed they knew about screening while their knowledge of risk factors was low. About 80.4percent of them also exhibited a generally good attitude to cervical cancer screening. Sadly, their level of practice was 15.4percent poor.
Quoting World Health Organisation (WHO), United Nations (UN), the World Bank and IARC Globocan, the CCFC said the mortality rate and death count highlight the inequity women face depending on where they live showing that the top ten countries with the highest cervical cancer mortality rates are found in Africa with Sub-Saharan Africa grappling with 22 percent of all cervical cancer cases worldwide.
The CCFC in its data shows that more women die of cervical cancer in India, relatively ranked No 1, than other parts of the world. Next is Zambia with 38.6 deaths per 100,000 as the second highest mortality rate. Australia has 1.4 deaths per 100,000 standing as the lowest. Norway ranks 50 recording the least number of deaths. Nigeria on the records, rank 10th having a cervical cancer mortality rate of 22.9 deaths per 100,000.
It is also reported that over fifty percent of cervical cancer diagnoses occur in women from ages 35 to 54, with only a fragment of about 20percent in women over 65years of age. The average age of diagnosis is also said to be 48years even as about 15percent of women develop cervical cancer between the ages of 20 and 30. It is reportedly very rare in women below age 20. However, many young women with early abnormal changes who do not have regular examinations are at high risk for localised cancer by age 40, and for invasive cancer by age 50.
Risk Factors and Causes
knowledge of cervical cancer is considered abysmal among Nigerian women. This factor is similarly responsible for prevalence of precancerous lesions and cervical cancer in South African women. And while it is medically established that HPV is the main risk factor for cervical cancer in women, it is also affirmed that the salient cause sexual interaction with an infected person.
CCFC, Executive Director, Dr. Jennifer Smith, in a report, explained that generally, cancer is often the off shoot of the uncontrolled division of abnormal cells. Most of the cells in the human body have a set lifespan; when they die new cells are produced to replace them. But abnormal cells usually have two problems. One is they don’t die. And secondly, they continue mutating. Then, this result in an excessive accumulation of cells which eventually form a lump also called a tumour. Till date, scientists have not been able to decipher why cells become cancerous. This is why it is vital for people to know the increased risks of developing cervical cancer.
“As it has been medically proven, cervical cancer, in its stages of growth, begins at the neck of the uterus, that is, the womb. It then divides into microscopic cells which can only be viewed through a microscope.”
Symptoms and types
WHILE cervical cancer is easily spoken about, not many are aware of its varying types. It is, however, important to know this so that appropriate treatment could be applied in each presentation of cervical cancer.
A Professor of Oncological Gynaecology at the University of Lagos Teaching Hospital, LUTH, Idi-Araba, Lagos, Dr Rosa, said knowledge and awareness of cervical cancer, a preventable disease, is very low while the toll of ailment on Nigerian women is very high. She thus argued that there is need for cervical cancer in Nigeria and in sub-Saharan to be given the same priority as HIV, malaria, tuberculosis and other forms of communicable diseases. She said it is high time for governments in these regions to be responsive to the wake-up call.
With other health officials, cervical cancer symptoms are given as:
Bleeding between periods
Bleeding after sexual intercourse
Bleeding in post-menopausal women
Discomfort during sexual intercourse
Smelly vaginal discharge
Vaginal discharge tinged with blood
Pelvic pain and a few others…
The experts said it is important for women to be alert to these warning signs. In fact, during the early stages, those affected may even experience no symptoms at all. It is thus vital again for sexually active women to have habitual cervical smear tests. In all, it is important to recognise cervical cancer as a completely preventable disease.
Prevention and treatment
According to Dr Smith, cervical cancer, no matter how aggressive in the latter stages, is actually a preventable disease. Sadly, so many deaths are recorded across the world.
She noted “It is a disease that can radically be reduced through vaccination, screening and public enlightenment. And to help our women go for screening and vaccination, it is also the collective responsibility of everyone to help them know about the disease, citing Australia’s successful control of the disorder to the country’s successful rollout of a comprehensive package of HPV vaccines, treatment and prevention.
Professor Isaac Adewole, Vice Chancellor of University of Ibadan, a medical doctor said “Early screening methods and prompt treatment are critical interventions that can save women’s lives. What is required of us all is a renewed commitment to saving the lives of our women and preventing a preventable death from the disease.”
Seyi Odewale reports about the degradation of FESTAC Town and the recent visit of the minister who promised to look into it.
THE Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Mrs. Akon Eyakenyi has promised to come to the rescue of FESTAC Town residents who have been crying for the maintenance of the roads there.
According to her, “I was planning to come, but that cry (on NTA Newsline) touched me as a mother and I decided to come straight here to see what is going on with my people. On arrival, the Chairman (Local Council boss) and the Managing Director of Federal Housing Authority (FHA) took us round the entire town, Festac Phase One and Phase Two. In going round, I have seen the problems facing the residents here-the sewage; the roads; the water problem and the structures.”
The minister who paid an unscheduled visit to the Town on May 4 drew attention to the residents’ plights which is reputed to be the first prime estate owned by the Federal Government. The degradation the town has suffered over decades, they said, must be addressed. To the residents, living in Festac Town is tantamount to hell.
Originally referred to as Festival Town or Festac Village, it derived its name from the acronym of the Second World Festival of Arts and Culture (FESTAC) held in 1977. It was built to house participants of the festival that drew participants from the world over, particularly, black nations of the world. The estate originally consisted of 5,000 contemporary houses and seven avenues and was designed to accommodate about 45,000 visitors and any Nigerian worker or officer working at the festival.
The Federal Government invested substantially into making the town the best when it was built. It had state-of-the-art facilities; power generators for uninterrupted power supply; police and fire stations; supermarkets; health centres; public rest rooms and postal services. “It was built to evoke the modern age and the promise of state sponsored economic development fuelled by oil revenues,” a report said.
Lost glory
After the festival, the Federal Government allocated the housing and landed properties to eventual owners, who participated in a ballot. Initial winners were prevented from renting and disposing of the properties to third parties. But unfortunately, the glamour, beauty and serenity the place boasted of had long vanished and have been replaced by degradation, abandonment and insecurity.
The degradation in Festac, in the words of the President, Festac Residents Association, Mr. Jola Ogunlusi, is more than what the Federal Housing Authority (FHA), the parastatal in-charge of the estate and any of such owned by the Federal Government across the country, could handle. “When the World Habitat was here, we discussed with them and we told them that it’s beyond the FHA and they agreed with us. We need the intervention of the Federal Government. The World Habitat said they will assist us with $12million, but its been over for years now,” he said while explaining to the Minister the reason why the residents cried out for the world to hear.
He continued: “We are afraid that Festac is a sand-filled area. It may soon sink if proper care is not taken. We would have seen a few places they have taken you to and those who are responsible for the degradation are not living here.”
Ogunlusi, who earlier expressed displeasure of the association to the minister and the council chairman for not carrying the residents along when the minister was being conducted around, said in Yoruba language that: “Aa kii fari lehin olori”, meaning : “You don’t shave someone’s head in his absence”. He said: “The Minister Ma, what you have done is barbing our heads in our absence. You should have included us when you are being conducted round. This is because we are the residents and we know where the shoes pinch us most. Nevertheless, you have being taken around to see the place.”
The Minister earlier in her address, said: “I want to say that the provision of the establishment of Festac by the government was one way of reaching out to Nigerians to enable them have affordable housing. That approach is still ongoing. That is why we have the prototype housing projects across the country.”
She said it is not the provision of houses that is important, but the maintenance, which cannot be done alone by the government. “For example, as we are moving around, we saw some structures that are dirty and dilapidated. It is not government that will maintain your structure for you,” she said.
She added: “Today, I have gone round, I have seen it and I’m also aware that about a year ago, a committee was set up when my predecessor was in office. And I have directed that the report of that committee must come to my table. And when that is done, we would look into the report by a smaller group or committee to see which area needs urgent attention. Particularly the sewage, something would be done very soon. Government cannot handle what we have seen here alone. We will look into Public/Private Partnership (PPP).”
The Amuwo-Odofin Local Council Development Chairman, Ayodele Adewale, whose council supervises Festac Town, in his welcome address, hinted that the Minister had conceded to the idea of PPP, which according to him would address the degradation the estate had experienced.
“The Minister has gone round the estate, and has seen all the infrastructures that are challenged. She has visited Six Avenue, where the estate’s land is being encroached upon. She has seen that our roads need attention. She has been taken to the spot where we had boat mishap and has seen that we need a bridge in that area. She has agreed that only the PPP can solve the problem of Festac,” he said.
The Minister corroborated him: “We have agreed with the chairman on what to do with the issue of security. I want to call on the residents to be patient with us and in a little time we will restore the lost glory of Festac.”
Among other issues complained about by the residents is double taxation they pay. To them, it is not that they do not want to pay, but paying double taxes on the same issue is not only oppressive, it is condemnable.
“We are in court for reason on the revenue. It is not that residents are not willing to pay the revenue, but they want us to pay the same rate in two ways and when that happens it’s like burning our candle at both ends. We face land use charge from the Lagos State government and Ground rent from the FHA. To us, it is the same thing, land and ground; it’s all semantics”, Ogunlusi explained.
According to him, the rule under land use Act says where there is a Federal Government estate, state government cannot charge rates there because they envisaged that the FHA would charge rates there. “But now, we being subjected to two rates and that is why we clamour for harmonisation and when it is done, I will hold meeting with my people to see whether the rates are payable or not,” he said.
The Minister, however, directed that the reports of the two committees set up by her predecessor must be ready last Monday for further decisions to be taken. She said although the time was short, but it could be achieved if the committees are committed to the assignment.
Abimbola Adebola (not real identity), a head teacher at a private primary school in Lagos is one of those who have experienced the difference between the two worlds, having taken his sister, who had been involved in an auto-crash to an India hospital for treatment. He disagrees largely with the suggestion that Nigeria’s health problem is more of poor equipment and infrastructure. He tells his story below:
Tell us about your experience accompanying your sister to India for medical treatment. How different was it from what you experienced in Nigeria?
A world of difference. Let me start by saying that nobody would be able to appraise and describe what happened during most of those medical trips, than the escorts, because in most cases, the patients are too weak or barely conscious of what is going on around them. Having experienced both worlds, I can tell you with certainty that the treatment we received in India was far better than what we received here. As a matter of fact, there is no basis for comparison. My sister was involved in an auto accident along Lagos-Ibadan expressway. She was the lone survivor in a car accident that left three people dead and two with spinal chord injury. She was immediately rushed her to the Ogun State University Teaching Hospital (OSUTH); but because of the distance to Lagos, where we reside and also to have her access better medical treatment, we had her brought to Lagos. Let me also say that we didn’t immediately have the intention of taking her to India or anywhere outside the country, so we took her to a popular hospital in Ikeja, which is one of the ‘best’ hospitals in Lagos. She was diagnosed with hip fracture and twisted ankle. After all the hullaballoo, the consultants took her in and for like one month placed her in the ward and put something like a clamp to firm up the broken hip. And then she was discharged. She spent another two months at home recuperating; and then we found out that there was a problem. She could not walk properly and her left leg had also become shorter by about 10centimetres. The doctor told us it was because she was being lazy and we were all like forcing her to march the ground more steadily and walk properly. But she kept telling us how painful it was and at a point, we took her to another consultant, who also consults for the Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi. He told us to go and do a CT scan to assess why the leg was getting shorter. We did the scan and lo and behold, the doctor found that the hip had become more damaged than when we took her to the hospital. Let me be honest with you, I can never bring myself to forgiving them in that hospital. When we showed them the scan at the hospital and the extent of damage that had subsequently occurred, the said they would try skin traction; if that did not work they would try bone traction; and if that failed, they would then perform an operation. That instantly showed us that they didn’t know what they were doing. The doctor was practically going to be doing trial and error on my sister until they got it right- if they ever would.
So what was your next step?
It was now time to look for remedy. We went back to the consultant who had recommended the CT scan. Having seen the extent of the damage, he told us that even Igbobi could not handle it, even though they would ordinarily tell us they could. We went to the bank where she was working and showed the scan to the HMO, who considered the option of taking her to Igbobi, but we told him what the consultant had told us, that they would only put metal in the hip, which would eventually react and worsen the case. The consultant then suggested that we consider going to India for her treatment. We went online and eventually settled for Indra Pasta Appolo Hospital. We started negotiating with them. They asked to see the CT scan and the MRI, which we sent to them via the internet. All this while, they were also consulting with their doctors and experts to see if they could handle it. They told us that what they would do is hip replacement. The fracture was no longer fresh, they said, otherwise they would have just gone ahead with the treatment. At that moment I remembered all the time we had spent at the Lagos hospital and the extent of damage it had led to. They told us that ultimately, they would replace the hip and that they will not use metal because the body reacts to metals. Rather, they would use ceramic. They consulted each other and took their time before eventually agreeing for us to come over. It was at the end of this period that they now told us to come over. On getting to India, they were able to have a proper picture of the damage. They also took another look at the ankle. After one week of observation, they told us they could only work on the ankle at the moment. They said the hip was already far gone and we would have to wait until it healed properly, before they could take it out and do the replacement. We were told to come back in another six months for the hip replacement. They also told us the hip can only last ten years, at the end of which she would come for check up and they would access it ant tighten it if necessary. Ordinarily, they told us, they do not perform this kind of surgery for somebody of her age- she is in her late 20s. But for the peculiarity of her age, such operation is only good for people above 50, who are no longer very active.
What other thing struck you about their mode of operation?
They do not leave you in the dark. For everything they do, they would explain to you and carry you along, explaining in detail why they need to do what and what. This is quite different and quite unlike Nigerian doctors, who prefer to keep you in the dark and even snap at you, if you as much as summon the courage to ask a question. Do you know that the doctor at the hospital in Nigeria had to report to the patient’s place of work that the patient absconded? After all the damage they had done. Can you imagine the effrontery! Another remarkable thing is that you never have to go anywhere outside the hospital to do anything. It is a massive hospital and virtually everything you need to do is available within their facility. It is not like here, where you have to move the patient all over the city to do simple tests. Even oxygen point is by every bedside; quite unlike ours, where you have to carry the cylinder about. Also I found that all the nurses are young ladies, probably between ages 20 and 25 and looking and acting well-trained. When they accompany patients, they exercise all the patience necessary, smiling, showing care, love and friendliness. For me those are people who enjoy their job.
Some Nigerian doctors have said that the fact that people throng to these foreign hospitals does not necessarily mean they are ahead of us. What’s your take on this?
I can categorically tell you that they are ahead of us. They know what to do at every interval. I also discovered that they (India) seem to have identified medical care as their strength and are just strengthening and consolidating themselves in it. This is also why they have seemingly wrestled the market from the Americans and Europeans. The US for instance, is more expensive; whereas India is relatively cheap. One thing I must also not fail to mention is the fact that they have a point they call International Lounge, where all international patients are received on arrival like a first point of call. From there, they give you all the attention you need until you’re through. Like I said earlier, it is a massive hospital, with probably more than 2000 staff. We went to their orthopaedic unit, but I can tell you that they cater for virtually all kind of illness.
Some Nigerian medical experts have said that the difference between countries like India, Germany and the USA, where Nigerians migrate to for health treatment are only ahead of us in equipments, and that if our health sector could only get the right funding….
Don’t let anybody deceive you; it is not only in the area of expertise. Medical personnel’s approach and attitude is also very important and we are clearly far behind in that regard. And then some of our so-called consultants, whose opinions are supposed to be reliable, thrive mainly on trial and error; even with critical health issues, and end up doing more damage to the patient’s situation. And yet they could not be humble enough to accept their inadequacies. We were only fortunate to have come across a more experienced personality, who advised us to go to India.
IBIDUN Ighodalo, the upwardly mobile wife of trendy Pastor Ituah Ighodalo, surely has something up her sleeves. The head honcho of Elizabeth R has landed with something new. She is getting ready to launch her own event centre on the Island. The massive marquee is dubbed The Dorchester. It has factory-fitted air conditioners and can comfortably seat at least 4,000 in a banquet setting and 6,000 in a theater setting.
Ighodalo, who just survived an ailment which many said was responsible for her long absence in the social circuit, is noted for her ability to always bring innovations to projects she handles.
OF all the defections that have pockmarked Nigerian politics in the Fourth Republic, most of them doubtlessly prosaic, none has been as eye-popping as that of former Ekiti State governor, Segun Oni. At a point in the hopeful past, we expected some Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) national lawmakers to defect to the All Progressives Congress (APC), both because of the extraordinary frustrations some of them endured in the ruling party and the groundswell of opinion that seemed to favour the main opposition party. In many states, due more to pecuniary inducements and job offers than anything else, we also anticipated movements across party lines, especially in favour of the ruling party. We also expected that for strategic reasons, particularly connected with opportunities to become standard-bearers, a few well-placed politicians might jettison principles and abandon their own parties. But nothing, really nothing, prepared us for the spectacular volte-face enacted by Mr Oni, an engineer.
Mr Oni, it will be recalled, defected to the APC early May. If opposition party leaders saw it coming, they neither gave indications to that effect nor felt it necessary to warn us ahead of time. Nor, as it is now clear, did most of us anticipate it for reasons connected with the bilious rage colourfully displayed by the APC and its media friends against Mr Oni when he campaigned against the APC and when he mounted the governorship throne. Though APC leaders in Ekiti set great store by the Oni defection, it is not certain what electoral value the defection would have, or by what hurtful margin of votes his embrace of the APC would cost the other parties contesting against the APC in the state. What is certain, however, is that of all the defections that have taken place in states, Mr Oni’s is probably the most virtuous.
The former governor succinctly explains his defection with a depth of understanding and brilliance none of his former traducers ever thought him capable of. Said he last week: “When Fayose was chosen as the governorship candidate of the PDP, I had the option of either changing my principles because of my party or changing my party because of my principles. My principles are far deeper; they are personal and stem from my upbringing, education, work life experience, my religious belief and so on. So, that may be more difficult to change, for me, at this age than a mere political party, especially since the basis for political partisanship is not yet ideological. The clear option before me therefore was to change my party and redeem my principles.” There was of course a hint of immodesty in his explanation, but what clearly need redemption are not Mr Oni’s principles, for they appear to be intact all along, but his former opponents’ competence with factual accuracy and tempered analyses.
In politics, William Clay says, there are no permanent enemies, and no permanent friends, only permanent interests. While the APC sometimes puritanically gives the impression that on ideological grounds there should be permanent enemies, Mr Oni approximates more than most politicians the Clay dictum of permanence of interests. Other defections, such as the ones expediently concocted in the National Assembly recently, may not present us opportunity for much introspection; but that of Mr Oni shows why politicians and analysts, especially media professionals, must approach politics with considerable restraint, balance and objectivity. Barometer has not observed whether any of Mr Oni’s media traducers has shown the remorsefulness honour demanded of them once the former governor shifted allegiance to the progressive column. Perhaps they are too shamefaced, too mortified by their wrong-headed analyses, to acknowledge that Mr Oni has indeed done the spectacular, and that he did it with aplomb and unimpeachable believability.
Indeed, given Mr Oni’s believable reasons for defecting, his previous membership of the PDP illustrates the exasperating fudge that has overtaken Nigerian politics, which fudge appears to obliterate the ideological divide he alluded to in his main reason for defecting. It should sadden the current generation of Nigerians that politicians, including Mr Oni himself, can’t tell the difference between the PDP and APC, or any other party for that matter. Whether party leaders will work to establish the needed distinction between parties to facilitate and streamline political recruitment and association remains to be seen.