THE Federal Government’s plan to establish cancer centres in its tertiary institutions is reassuring. Health Minister, Prof. Isaac Adewole, announced the decision while receiving the World Health Organisation (WHO) Director for Africa, Dr. Matshidiso R. Moeti, who paid him a courtesy visit in his office last week. He explained that the country is seeking the support of the global health agency and other development partners to make the plan a reality.
Prof. Adewole also spoke of his intention to mobilise resources to revitalise primary healthcare in the country in order to attain universal coverage, monitoring and evaluation. He disclosed that the government is currently reviewing its strategic plans for health and will soon launch a new National Strategic Health Development Plan (NSHDP) to cover the period 2016 to 2020. He also emphasised the need to mobilise resources for the Regional Centre for Disease Control.
Given the minister’s vast medical and administrative experience, we have no doubt that these ambitious plans will help to restore the confidence of Nigerians in the country’s health system and, by so doing, halt the tide of thousands of Nigerians who annually go abroad in search of effective healthcare at a cost of about $200 million a year. This is, perhaps, the first time that the Federal Government is being explicit on plans to provide facilities for cancer care in the country. We urge the government to ensure that each of the six geo-political zones has at least one of the comprehensive cancer care centres.
Past efforts in cancer care in Nigeria have been mostly from non-governmental organisations, foremost among which is the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philantrophy (CECP), which is made up of eminent public-spirited Nigerians. The organisation has a plan to acquire and deploy mobile cancer centres in the nation’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
The plan for government cancer centres is a direct response to the alarming increase in the number of cancer patients and the almost total absence of cancer care facilities in the country. Cancer can no longer be ignored because it kills about 80,000 Nigerians annually. It is virtually a death sentence when it strikes. In no country of the world is the treatment for cancer cheap. But, the disease ceases to be a death sentence if it is detected early enough. This is where screening centres come in. Because the country has no answer when it attacks, cancer death rate in Nigeria is 80 per cent. This means that it kills four of every five persons it strikes.
Three common cancers – cervical cancer, breast cancer and prostate cancer – kill about 90 Nigerians daily. Cervical cancer, in particular, is virtually 100 per cent preventable. The survival rate for early stage breast cancer and early stage prostate cancer is virtually 100 per cent. In its sensitisation programme last year, the CECP stated that if mobile cancer centres are deployed all over the country, the incidence and mortality rate for cancer would be reduced by 70 per cent. Indeed, if the proposed Federal cancer centres become reality, they will go a long way in reducing cancer deaths. If every vulnerable Nigerian can be screened once a year, many of the cancers would be discovered before they become life-threatening. At that stage, treatment is not just cheaper; the chances of a cure are higher.
We also wish to draw the minister’s attention to the dearth of oncologists in the country. Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, last year drew attention to the fact that while the number of oncologists in the country could be counted on the fingers, more than 220 oncologists of Nigerian descent work in the Diaspora. In other words, the Minister must also think about the training of more oncologists who will eventually man the centres.
We urge the minister to expedite action on this proposal. Nigeria is lagging too far behind in this area of healthcare. The first Indian cancer centre opened in 1941, and today, that country boasts of more than 120 comprehensive cancer centres. The Tata Cancer Centre in Mumbai today treats 70 per cent of its patients for free. Egypt, South Africa and much smaller and poorer African countries like Mozambique, Tanzania and Kenya have comprehensive cancer centres. Nigeria should not be an exception.