Mindful of the projection that cancer will be the leading cause of death by 2030 with about 70 percent of the motalities in Low/Medium Income Countries (LMIC) such as Nigeria; a northern based organisation, Medicaid Cancer Foundation (MCF), last month convened a summit to stimulate policy frameworks that would stem the rising cases of cancer in the country.
The four-day summit, which was held at the Nigerian AirForce Conference (NAF) Centre, Abuja, was attended by medical practitioners, statisticians, reseachers and cancer care givers both within and outside the country.
Themed “surveillance of cancer survival in low resource settings: what needs to change,” the summit aimed at developing a strategic framework for improving cancer data collection for planning towards providing high-quality cancer care.
It also served as a platform for the foundation to highlight some of its interventions which included the treatement of over 600 cancer patients to full recovery as well as free diagnoses of over 30,000 persons some of whom were currently being treated.
Founded by the wife of Kebbi State Governor Dr. Zainab Bagudu, MFC said it was committed to assisting the Federal Government in reducing deaths from cancer as well as enhance the quality of cancer data in the country, adding that it was collaborating with the Nigerian National System of Cancer Registries (NSCR) of the Federal Ministry of Health and the Global surveillance of cancer survival- the CONCORD programme led by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) to incorporate a capacity building workshop for old and new cancer registrars.
Dr. Bagudu in her address said the summit specifically targeted cancer registries, care team managers, epidemiologists, statisticians, government agencies, global cancer survival in LMIC, adding that it incorporated.
On those assisted by the foundation, she said: ‘’Some people with cancer will have only one treatment. But most people have a combination of treatments, such as surgery with chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy. You may also have immunotherapy, targeted therapy, or hormone therapy. We have assisted these patients with their treaments till full recovery. Also MCF has diagnosed no fewer than 30,000 persons.
“For the last 12 years we have focused on how best to improve cancer control in Nigeria which is categorised as an LMIC. We have a lot of successful programs and initiatives to our name. The popular annual cancer awareness walk in Abuja; our school health programmes targeting young girls, indigent patient support scheme; training human resource for cancer screening and the traditional rulers community influencers program, among others.
“Recognising the importance of having better statistics as a precursor to better cancer care, we initiated a series of summits on the process of cancer registration. Working with the Kebbi State Ministry of Health, with sponsorship from Saving One Million Lives programme, relevant personnel have been trained and not one but two registries (one population and one hospital based) are now fully functional in Kebbi State. In addition, we are in the final stages of developing a state cancer control plan.
“We do all of this because by 2030 cancer will be the leading cause of death. 60-70 percent global deaths will occur in LMIC. Most LMICs are in Africa.
“MCF has no doubt succeeded in raising the bar and improving the narrative. In some places, we started the entire conversation. However, unravelling the enigma of cancer is not a day’s job, it is not one person’s, foundation’s, minister’s job nor one agency’s job.”
Noting that the federal government and other stakehokders such as the
Nigerian Sovereign Wealth Investment Agency (NSIA), civil society and partners have intensified efforts in the last three years to effectively manage cancer, Bagudu said MCF was part of a steering committee overseen by the Federal Ministry of Health that launched a
“National Cancer Control Plan 2018-2022,” which provides clear roadmap on harmonising cancer control efforts in the country.
“We now have two functional linear accelerators for radiotherapy in the National Hospital Abuja. Also, thanks to an injection of funds from the NSIA, a cancer treatment center is in construction at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, with three more planned. We will finally be able to offer cancer patients an internationally acceptable standard of care. The Minister of Health has in addition successfully dialogued with some major pharmaceutical companies to reduce the cost of chemotherapy significantly,” she said.
Although some efforts have been made, Bagudu said there more needed to be done to reduce cases of cancer in the country. She noted the need to make Cervical Cancer Vaccines (HPV vaccines) free for young girls and possibly boys before they become sexually active.
“Our call for action is to humbly request the Ministry of Health and every other stakeholder to urgently make this a reality. The models used for the ‘Polio Vaccination’ can be easily adapted. Another vital next step we must strive to achieve is in research and clinical trials. I urge our higher institutions of learning and research to network and provide the enabling environment for the brilliant scientists we possess.”
She said there was need for effective strategies to stem the growing burden of cancer, particularly in developing countries.
“With Nigeria being the most populous African country, it is imperative that concerted efforts be made to support accurate data collection to improve cancer control in Nigeria to achieve the world target of 25 percent reduction in death from cancer and other non-communicable diseases by 2025,” she said.
Deputy Medical Director, Medicaid Radio Diagnostic Centre, Dr. Ibrahim Hyelakumi advised Nigerians to avoid tobacco in all its forms, including exposure to second-hand smoking to prevent cancer.
‘’Eat properly; reduce your consumption of saturated fat and red meat, which appears to increase the risk of colon and prostate cancers. Limit your intake of charbroiled foods (especially meat), and avoid deep-fried foods,’’ he said.
