Doris Obinna

The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed has said that the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA)-Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) Cancer Centre (NLCC), has the capacity to treat 80 cancer patients daily.

Ahmed, who said this during the inauguration of the NLCC Training and Administrative Building in LUTH, Idi-Araba, Lagos, said that various categories of treatment and high technology investment had been deployed to the NSIA-LUTH Cancer Centre would stem the tide of medical tourism as well as attracts cancer patients from across west African sub-region to access care in Nigeria.

She said: “It is important to also note that it is affordable as the average cost of treating different categories of cancer treatment is N900,00, which is quite cheap compare to $10,000 in Ghana and about $15 in United States and Europe.”

On his part, Minister of State for Health Dr Olorunibe Mamora, said, having gone round the centre with other dignitaries, I am very pleased with what I saw. Commending NSIA and LUTH authorities, he said, this is a wonderful experience for our people. “Patients suffering from cancer will have no business going abroad because what they want to go for is already available here in Nigeria.

“Any type of cancer can be managed from what is here, particularly the common ones that we know, either; breast, cervical or prostate; those are the common ones that afflict our people here, and again at a very relatively cheaper rate.”

He said: “Because you will need to travel, you will not need to pay airfare and other things. Usually you have to go with one or two persons to accompany you and these are extra cost. So, I am happy to be here today, and it is a total package, not just the radiotherapy; we also have the chemotherapy as well, all these are available and the environment is comfortable.

“The centre is a total package as it is not for administering treatment only; it is also for the training personnel. All personalities involved would be trained, with hope that the cenre would be maintained because maintenance is very important.”

Related News

In his remark, the Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof Akin Abayomi, said that Lagos is particularly delighted that high technology development was in place at LUTH. “The state has a tertiary health academic centre, Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), where we have an oncology department, but it was not as sophisticated as this.

“It will be a great benefit to the entire country as we train small numbers of experts because there are very few doctors that specialize in this caliber of specialty. Our students and specialist doctors don’t have to travel to South Africa, India or America, they can just drive across the bridge as you are in a place just good as you will get anywhere in the world.

“This is really a golden opportunity, and we thanked the President and the Minister for Health for choosing Lagos for this special facility, and we will continue to support it.

Meanwhile, the Chief Medical Director, LUTH, Prof Chris Bode has promised not to let the NSIA and LUTH down as it has been quiet illuminating working with them. “No Nigerians would be left out. In the next 10 years, there would be qualitative guaranteed patient care.

“What patients would pay for as treatment is cheap when compared to what they pay outside the country. Patients don’t need to know anyone before coming to access the care,” he stated.

The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, NSIA Mr. Uche Orji disclosed that it was the deficiency noticed right from the day of the NLCC commissioning, especially in terms of skilled manpower that prompted the construction of training and administrative building.

He added that NSIA committed US$11.5m in capital towards the establishment and operation of the cancer centre.