Editorial
As a result of the increasing cervical cancer deaths in the country, the Federal Ministry of Health has adopted a cost-effective test and a cervical cancer policy to checkmate the rampaging monster. To this end, the ministry also plans to incorporate the cervical cancer vaccine into the national immunization schedule as well as conduct six pilot studies in six states of the federation on two different cancer vaccines-Cervarix and Gardasil.
The ministry has entered into an agreement with the Global Alliance on Vaccine Initiative (GAVI) in order to reduce the cost of the vaccines. According to medical scientists, the new Visual Inspection with Acetic Acid (VIA) or ‘see and treat’ approach, which uses a test that costs $2 (N300), would help doctors prevent 100,000 cervical cancer deaths a year in women in poorer countries. They believe that the VIA could provide the answer to cervical cancer deaths.
Already, research findings in some rural communities have confirmed that VIA significantly reduced cancer death rates. The only snag is that more awareness needs to be created so that more and more women will come up for screening.
According to scientists, the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) belongs to the papillomavirus family of viruses that infect humans. About 30 to 40 types of HPV are transmitted through sexual contact. They usually infect the anogenital region.
While some sexually transmitted HPV types may cause genital warts, it has been established that persistent infection with ‘high risk’ HPV types different from the ones that cause warts, may progress to precancerous lesions and invasive cancer.
Till date, HPV infection is said to be responsible for almost all cases of cervical cancer. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has revealed that about 300,000 women throughout the world die annually from cervical cancer. Unfortunately, about 85 percent of the deaths occur in developing countries.
Available statistics from the Health Ministry’s Cancer Control Unit show that over 30 million Nigerians are already afflicted by one form of cancer or the other. There are strong indications, too, that about 100,000 new cases would be identified, annually. And, there are even fears that if nothing urgent is done to contain the scourge, over 500,000 people might be affected by the disease, this year alone.
Health experts in Nigeria have identified three leading cancer killers in the country as those of the breast, cervix and prostate. Of all, cervical cancer has been found out to be the leading cause of cancer death among women in developing countries. In these countries, there are poor health service infrastructure and high costs of screening and vaccines.
We welcome and applaud the new initiative aimed at curtailing cervical cancer our country. Let the government provide the simple VIA test methodology in all government health facilities in both urban and rural areas. We also enjoin all the health departments of the three tiers of government to work in concert to ensure the success of this exercise. They should ensure that there are enough enlightenment campaigns in English and vernacular languages to ensure that every part of Nigeria benefits from this cervical cancer policy.
As more Nigerian women have been identified to be dying of the monstrous disease, we must do everything humanly possible to contain the ailment.
While we welcome the plan by the government to include cervical cancer vaccination in the national immunization schedule, and the proposed six pilot studies on cervical cancer vaccines in six states in Nigeria, we caution that their safety be ascertained and guaranteed before use.
Let the nation’s health authorities pursue this laudable initiative to its logical conclusion.
SOURCE
Showing posts with label WHO FCTC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label WHO FCTC. Show all posts
Monday, February 15, 2010
Friday, February 5, 2010
‘Reducing cancer begins with supporting Tobacco Control Bill’
Appolonia Adeyemi
When news that former First Lady, Mrs. Maryam Babangida had died from ovarian cancer in far away United States (US) filtered through the airwaves on December 27, 2009, many Nigerians realised that if the latest cancer victim was wife the former military President, Ibrahim Babangida, it is indeed time to check the killer disease. One way to fight cancer, a non communicable disease involving abnormal growth of cells, is keeping away from tobacco smoking.
According to data issued by the World Health Organisation (WHO), cancer affects people of all ages with the risk for most types increasing with age. With the increase of cancers recorded globally since 2008, the link between cigarette smoking and cancer has been brought to the fore.
Researchers have clarified that tobacco use is associated with many forms of cancer and that cancer caused about 13 per cent of all human deaths in 2007. Also, research has shown that cancer causes 90 per cent of lung cancer. These are some of the issues raised at a training on Cancer Reporting for Health Reporters organised by Journalists Advocacy on Tobacco & Health (JATH) in Lagos recently. Among resource persons at the workshop were Mrs. Ebun Anozie, Chief Executive Officer, Care Organisation Public Enlightenment, also known as C.O.P.E., Akinbode Oluwafemi, Programme Officer, Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN), Tosin Orogun of JATH, among others.
Tobacco’s role in increasing the chance of lung cancer is one of the most widely known of tobacco’s harmful effects on human health. Decades of research has demonstrated the link between tobacco use and cancer in many sites in the body in addition to the lungs. Other parts of the body that cancer can affect are the head and neck, (coveringof the esophagus, larynx, tongue, salivary glands, lip, mouth, and pharynx), urinary bladder and kidneys, uterine cervix, breast, pancreas, and colon.
According to the Programme Officer, Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN), Akinbode Oluwafemi, there are about 599 approved additives in a stick of cigarette. He said, “Cigarette smoke is proven to contain over 4,000 toxic and cancer causing chemicals. The list is long: carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, hydrogen cyanide and ammonia to name a few.”
He noted that smoking is a major risk factor for different cancers and apart from the high cost of cancer treatment and the infrastructural challenges, smoking related cancers account for 30 per cent of cancer related deaths.
Therefore, taking prompt action to check cancer related deaths becomes more compelling now considering the large number of smokers in the nation. Data issued by the WHO states that 17 per cent of Nigerian adults smoke, resulting in 17 million Nigerians. “And because research has shown that half of smokers are going to die of tobacco-related illnesses, that means 6.5 million Nigerians are going to die as a result of that smoking habit,” he said.
Consequently, Akinbode said that is why it is very urgent for government to begin to take actions in order to reduce tobacco use in Nigeria.
While he noted that tobacco related deaths are preventable, Programme Officer of ERA/FoEN urged the government to put in place policies that will discourage people from putting up the habit of tobacco smoking and for people who are already smoking to quit.
A speedy passage of the National Tobacco Control Bill 2009, sponsored by Senator, Olorunnimbe Mamora will help, Akinbode said.
The bill, which has passed through the First Reading at the National Assembly seeks to domesticate the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control that was negotiated under the WHO. Nigeria became a party to that convention in 2005.
Since Nigeria is now a part of that Convention, he said, “We should domesticate all the provisions of that international treaty.”
The provisions talks about Tobacco Demand Reduction, the mechanisms of which include ban on advert, sponsorship and promotion of tobacco products, raising taxes on them, creating smoke-free environment for the citizens and making the public places smoke-free.
Similarly, it includes awareness creation and obligations on cessation of tobacco smoking.
The other side of it that has to do with manufacturing talks about packaging and labeling of tobacco products.
How do manufacturers package tobacco products? Programme Officer of ERA/FoEN said they have to put in place appropriate warnings on cigarette parks.
“For instance, Akinbode said the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control recommends 50 per cent pictorial warnings, meaning that manufacturers have to put on the cigarette park pictorials on what is cancer, that cigarettes cause impotence, that cigarettes smoke is dangerous for unborn babies and pregnant women, among others.”
According to him, these pictorial warnings are already being put on cigarette packages in some African countries. He said, “For instance, Mauritius has even moved a step further to say that those warnings will occupy 75 per cent of the display area on the cigarette park Besides, it is the same companies that are here that are manufacturing cigarettes in Mauritius. So, they don’t have any excuse for not complying with those laws in Nigeria.”
SOURCE
When news that former First Lady, Mrs. Maryam Babangida had died from ovarian cancer in far away United States (US) filtered through the airwaves on December 27, 2009, many Nigerians realised that if the latest cancer victim was wife the former military President, Ibrahim Babangida, it is indeed time to check the killer disease. One way to fight cancer, a non communicable disease involving abnormal growth of cells, is keeping away from tobacco smoking.
According to data issued by the World Health Organisation (WHO), cancer affects people of all ages with the risk for most types increasing with age. With the increase of cancers recorded globally since 2008, the link between cigarette smoking and cancer has been brought to the fore.
Researchers have clarified that tobacco use is associated with many forms of cancer and that cancer caused about 13 per cent of all human deaths in 2007. Also, research has shown that cancer causes 90 per cent of lung cancer. These are some of the issues raised at a training on Cancer Reporting for Health Reporters organised by Journalists Advocacy on Tobacco & Health (JATH) in Lagos recently. Among resource persons at the workshop were Mrs. Ebun Anozie, Chief Executive Officer, Care Organisation Public Enlightenment, also known as C.O.P.E., Akinbode Oluwafemi, Programme Officer, Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN), Tosin Orogun of JATH, among others.
Tobacco’s role in increasing the chance of lung cancer is one of the most widely known of tobacco’s harmful effects on human health. Decades of research has demonstrated the link between tobacco use and cancer in many sites in the body in addition to the lungs. Other parts of the body that cancer can affect are the head and neck, (coveringof the esophagus, larynx, tongue, salivary glands, lip, mouth, and pharynx), urinary bladder and kidneys, uterine cervix, breast, pancreas, and colon.
According to the Programme Officer, Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN), Akinbode Oluwafemi, there are about 599 approved additives in a stick of cigarette. He said, “Cigarette smoke is proven to contain over 4,000 toxic and cancer causing chemicals. The list is long: carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, hydrogen cyanide and ammonia to name a few.”
He noted that smoking is a major risk factor for different cancers and apart from the high cost of cancer treatment and the infrastructural challenges, smoking related cancers account for 30 per cent of cancer related deaths.
Therefore, taking prompt action to check cancer related deaths becomes more compelling now considering the large number of smokers in the nation. Data issued by the WHO states that 17 per cent of Nigerian adults smoke, resulting in 17 million Nigerians. “And because research has shown that half of smokers are going to die of tobacco-related illnesses, that means 6.5 million Nigerians are going to die as a result of that smoking habit,” he said.
Consequently, Akinbode said that is why it is very urgent for government to begin to take actions in order to reduce tobacco use in Nigeria.
While he noted that tobacco related deaths are preventable, Programme Officer of ERA/FoEN urged the government to put in place policies that will discourage people from putting up the habit of tobacco smoking and for people who are already smoking to quit.
A speedy passage of the National Tobacco Control Bill 2009, sponsored by Senator, Olorunnimbe Mamora will help, Akinbode said.
The bill, which has passed through the First Reading at the National Assembly seeks to domesticate the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control that was negotiated under the WHO. Nigeria became a party to that convention in 2005.
Since Nigeria is now a part of that Convention, he said, “We should domesticate all the provisions of that international treaty.”
The provisions talks about Tobacco Demand Reduction, the mechanisms of which include ban on advert, sponsorship and promotion of tobacco products, raising taxes on them, creating smoke-free environment for the citizens and making the public places smoke-free.
Similarly, it includes awareness creation and obligations on cessation of tobacco smoking.
The other side of it that has to do with manufacturing talks about packaging and labeling of tobacco products.
How do manufacturers package tobacco products? Programme Officer of ERA/FoEN said they have to put in place appropriate warnings on cigarette parks.
“For instance, Akinbode said the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control recommends 50 per cent pictorial warnings, meaning that manufacturers have to put on the cigarette park pictorials on what is cancer, that cigarettes cause impotence, that cigarettes smoke is dangerous for unborn babies and pregnant women, among others.”
According to him, these pictorial warnings are already being put on cigarette packages in some African countries. He said, “For instance, Mauritius has even moved a step further to say that those warnings will occupy 75 per cent of the display area on the cigarette park Besides, it is the same companies that are here that are manufacturing cigarettes in Mauritius. So, they don’t have any excuse for not complying with those laws in Nigeria.”
SOURCE
Government is expanding cancer treatment access – Osotimehin
With the celebration of the 2010 World Cancer Day yesterday, Appolonia Adeyemi reviews the federal government’s cancer control programme February, 2004. At 7.15 am, Ama Jonathan was the first patient to arrive the Oncology Unit, University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Oyo State. Having been diagnosed of breast cancer, a private health facility in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, had referred AMA to UCH, which has medical facility and personnel to treat the condition. Arriving the unit that deals with cancers, she took her turn to see the doctors and did further tests to aid treatment but as dusk began to set, she became apprehensive on where to spend the night. Ama had no relation nor friend in Ibadan but had to follow up on the mastectomy, which the doctors recommended as the only way to nip her breast cancer in the bud. A mastectomy is surgery to remove a breast and it is performed either to treat or prevent breast cancer.
With nowhere to go to, Ama finally joined other patients who had accommodation problems in an uncompleted structure being developed in UCH. She spent the night there. The following day, she followed up on the treatment. After spending two weeks in UCH and getting a four week appointment for the surgery, Ama left for Port Harcourt.
Undoubtedly, moving back and forth from Port Harcourt where she lived to Ibadan, the location of the facility providing cancer treatment was an added burden to the health condition Ama faced but she was not alone. The problem of limited cancer treatment access was major a problem facing cancer patients in Nigeria.
Before the era of former President, Retired General, Olusegun Obasanjo, only six hospitals were designated as cancer treating centres. These were the UCH in Ibadan, National Hospital, Abuja, University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu, Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Lagos, University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, Maiduguri and Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria. What this meant was that a patient residing in a rural area in Calabar could be referred to seek treatment in Abuja, Maiduguri or Zaria, depending on the health facility that had the requisite equipment and personnel for the case at hand. Of course, many poor people who had cancer must have missed out on treatment, resulting in the high incidence of cancer deaths in the country.
Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide. World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that 7.6 million people died of cancer in 2005 and 100,000 new cases are currently seen annually. This is estimated to rise to 500,000 new cases annually by 2015 if prevention and screening services strategies are not implemented urgently.
According to the Federal Ministry of Health, recent studies in Ibadan reported an annual incidence of 10,000 cervical cancer cases in the south west of Nigeria.
In Nigeria, the main types of cancer leading to overall cancer mortality among men each year are cancers of the prostate, liver, connective tissue, skin, larynx, Hodgkin disease, colon and rectum, Nasopharynx, bladder and nose. Among women, the commonest cancers are cancers of the breast, cervix, uterus, ovary, liver, non Hodgkin, lymphoma, colon, thyroid, soft tissue and bone.
With the increased incidence of cancer, the Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) has upgraded more hospitals and increased their capacity to optimally treat cancer while others are still in the process of being upgraded. The process which was initiated by Retired. General Obasanjo with the rehabilitation of some tertiary hospitals is continuing to date, said the Minister of Health, Prof. Babatunde Osotimehin.
According to him, hospitals that are presently being upgraded to treat cancer are the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City, Edo State, Federal Medical Centre, Gombe, Usman Danfodio University Teaching Hospital, Sokoto, University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Ilorin, Kwara State and University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, Port Harcourt. “Recently, Federal Medical Centre, Gombe received cancer treating equipment,” said Dr. Patience Osinubi who is the coordinator of Cancer Control Programme at the Federal Ministry of Health.
It is import to expand treatment centres because 30 per cent of cancers are preventable while about 40 per cent are easily detectable in the pre-malignant stages, thereby providing the opportunities to stem the course of the disease and increase the chance of cure.
However, another major problem facing the treatment and management of cancer in Nigeria is that many cancer cases present to the hospitals at advanced stages when effective intervention is not possible. “This has been one of the major reasons for the high mortality rates,” said Dr. Osinubi.
According to her, the FMOH has tremendously stepped up cancer prevention and early diagnosis through regular cancer screening. This will prevent late presentation of cases, she said.
For instance, in Nigeria, cervical cancer kills more women than any other form of cancer. The National Cervical Cancer Prevention Programme (NCCPP), a non government organisation and an initiative of the Mass Medical Mission (MMM), which is working on cancer, states that “Every two minute, a woman dies from cervical cancer.” Yet cervical cancer’s cancerous lesions can be detected through routine examination, making it easy to cure.
To stem the tide, in 2009, Prof. Osotimehin directed all Federal Tertiary Hospitals to set up cancer screening services to increase accessibility to cancer screening for the three major cancers in Nigeria – breast, cervix and prostate cancers.
Similarly, the NCCPP with support from governments, corporate organisations, among others is currently expanding access to awareness and screening for cervical, breast and prostate cancers. With screening and counseling centre already established in its Surulere Headquarters in Lagos, it plans to establish screening centres for the three major cancers in all 774 local government councils in the country.
Other activities at the FMOH to control cancer include awareness and advocacy through the media and partnerships with NGOs. “Many state governor’s wives are partnering with the Federal Ministry of Health to carry the cancer awareness and advocacy to the local government and communities,” Dr. Osinubi said.
In addition, the FMOH is partnering with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on a programme called Programme of Action on Cancer Therapy (PACT). Going by government plan, within the next eight years, nuclear medicine equipment, which can diagnose cancer efficiently and more radiotherapy equipment (linear accelerators) will be available in more federal tertiary hospitals.” The federal government has committed to counterpart funding of $37.5 million dollars for the successful implementation of this programme, said the coordinator of the Cancer Control Programme at the FMOH, adding, “Nigeria has already paid the first $2 million to the IAEA to initiate the programme.”
Although, Dr. Osibubi admitted that currently, the cancer diagnostic and therapeutic facilities and trained manpower, especially in the area of radiotherapy and nuclear medicine physicists are still inadequate to meet the needs of the 140 million population, “we will have enough facilities to treat cancer patients by the end of the IAEA partnership.”
In Nigeria, an average of one linear accelerator per 20 million is available when compared to 3.4 and 8.2 radiotherapy machines per million population in the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US).
Cancer treatment is expensive globally and the major challenge facing patients in Nigeria is the inability of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) to fund cancer treatments. Although, the current co-pay of about N550 is inadequate to support the funding of cancer treatment, the scheme funds cancer screening and simple mastectomies and prostatectomy for breast and prostate cancers.
Following the huge cost of cancer treatment, the primary focus of the government is cancer prevention because it is far more economical to prevent the disease than allow for the onset of the condition.
Although, the federal government signing of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control is laudable, domesticating the protocol will reduce tobacco consumption and ultimately prevent cancer.
On cervical cancer, the National Cervical Control Policy states that girls from nine years should be eligible for the vaccine, Gardasil, which prevents the onset of human papilloma virus that causes cervical cancer. The FMOH is trying to get Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI) country assistance to procure these vaccine at an affordable cost to sustain its inclusion in the National Programme on Immunisation (NPI).
In addition, the FMOH advocates for breast cancer prevention by encouraging self and clinical breast examinations and mammography. This should be done at least every two yeas from age 35 years and above for early detection of breast cancer. Abnormal breast lumps can be evaluated this way for very early treatment intervention, Osinubi said. A mammogram an x-ray of the breast to detect cancer, goes for, which is between N3,000 and N5,000 in public hospitals.
Furthermore, while current government policy urges men to check the serum levels of their Prostate Specific Antigens to detect any unusual rise in its level. High levels may indicate early onset of prostate cancer. Also, skin cancer protection programme is being pursued for albinos. Through Albino Foundations, the FMOH is advocating for the use of sunscreens and protective covering like hats, long sleeve clothing to reduce excessive exposure to sunlight, among others.
If Nigerians responds to the various awareness and preventive programmes in place, medical experts believe that it will translate into routine cancer screening exercises and result in preventing cancers. On the other hand, for those who get cancers like Ama, the increasing cancer treatment centres in the nation will bridge the gap created by limited cancer treating facilities.
With nowhere to go to, Ama finally joined other patients who had accommodation problems in an uncompleted structure being developed in UCH. She spent the night there. The following day, she followed up on the treatment. After spending two weeks in UCH and getting a four week appointment for the surgery, Ama left for Port Harcourt.
Undoubtedly, moving back and forth from Port Harcourt where she lived to Ibadan, the location of the facility providing cancer treatment was an added burden to the health condition Ama faced but she was not alone. The problem of limited cancer treatment access was major a problem facing cancer patients in Nigeria.
Before the era of former President, Retired General, Olusegun Obasanjo, only six hospitals were designated as cancer treating centres. These were the UCH in Ibadan, National Hospital, Abuja, University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu, Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Lagos, University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, Maiduguri and Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria. What this meant was that a patient residing in a rural area in Calabar could be referred to seek treatment in Abuja, Maiduguri or Zaria, depending on the health facility that had the requisite equipment and personnel for the case at hand. Of course, many poor people who had cancer must have missed out on treatment, resulting in the high incidence of cancer deaths in the country.
Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide. World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that 7.6 million people died of cancer in 2005 and 100,000 new cases are currently seen annually. This is estimated to rise to 500,000 new cases annually by 2015 if prevention and screening services strategies are not implemented urgently.
According to the Federal Ministry of Health, recent studies in Ibadan reported an annual incidence of 10,000 cervical cancer cases in the south west of Nigeria.
In Nigeria, the main types of cancer leading to overall cancer mortality among men each year are cancers of the prostate, liver, connective tissue, skin, larynx, Hodgkin disease, colon and rectum, Nasopharynx, bladder and nose. Among women, the commonest cancers are cancers of the breast, cervix, uterus, ovary, liver, non Hodgkin, lymphoma, colon, thyroid, soft tissue and bone.
With the increased incidence of cancer, the Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) has upgraded more hospitals and increased their capacity to optimally treat cancer while others are still in the process of being upgraded. The process which was initiated by Retired. General Obasanjo with the rehabilitation of some tertiary hospitals is continuing to date, said the Minister of Health, Prof. Babatunde Osotimehin.
According to him, hospitals that are presently being upgraded to treat cancer are the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City, Edo State, Federal Medical Centre, Gombe, Usman Danfodio University Teaching Hospital, Sokoto, University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Ilorin, Kwara State and University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, Port Harcourt. “Recently, Federal Medical Centre, Gombe received cancer treating equipment,” said Dr. Patience Osinubi who is the coordinator of Cancer Control Programme at the Federal Ministry of Health.
It is import to expand treatment centres because 30 per cent of cancers are preventable while about 40 per cent are easily detectable in the pre-malignant stages, thereby providing the opportunities to stem the course of the disease and increase the chance of cure.
However, another major problem facing the treatment and management of cancer in Nigeria is that many cancer cases present to the hospitals at advanced stages when effective intervention is not possible. “This has been one of the major reasons for the high mortality rates,” said Dr. Osinubi.
According to her, the FMOH has tremendously stepped up cancer prevention and early diagnosis through regular cancer screening. This will prevent late presentation of cases, she said.
For instance, in Nigeria, cervical cancer kills more women than any other form of cancer. The National Cervical Cancer Prevention Programme (NCCPP), a non government organisation and an initiative of the Mass Medical Mission (MMM), which is working on cancer, states that “Every two minute, a woman dies from cervical cancer.” Yet cervical cancer’s cancerous lesions can be detected through routine examination, making it easy to cure.
To stem the tide, in 2009, Prof. Osotimehin directed all Federal Tertiary Hospitals to set up cancer screening services to increase accessibility to cancer screening for the three major cancers in Nigeria – breast, cervix and prostate cancers.
Similarly, the NCCPP with support from governments, corporate organisations, among others is currently expanding access to awareness and screening for cervical, breast and prostate cancers. With screening and counseling centre already established in its Surulere Headquarters in Lagos, it plans to establish screening centres for the three major cancers in all 774 local government councils in the country.
Other activities at the FMOH to control cancer include awareness and advocacy through the media and partnerships with NGOs. “Many state governor’s wives are partnering with the Federal Ministry of Health to carry the cancer awareness and advocacy to the local government and communities,” Dr. Osinubi said.
In addition, the FMOH is partnering with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on a programme called Programme of Action on Cancer Therapy (PACT). Going by government plan, within the next eight years, nuclear medicine equipment, which can diagnose cancer efficiently and more radiotherapy equipment (linear accelerators) will be available in more federal tertiary hospitals.” The federal government has committed to counterpart funding of $37.5 million dollars for the successful implementation of this programme, said the coordinator of the Cancer Control Programme at the FMOH, adding, “Nigeria has already paid the first $2 million to the IAEA to initiate the programme.”
Although, Dr. Osibubi admitted that currently, the cancer diagnostic and therapeutic facilities and trained manpower, especially in the area of radiotherapy and nuclear medicine physicists are still inadequate to meet the needs of the 140 million population, “we will have enough facilities to treat cancer patients by the end of the IAEA partnership.”
In Nigeria, an average of one linear accelerator per 20 million is available when compared to 3.4 and 8.2 radiotherapy machines per million population in the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US).
Cancer treatment is expensive globally and the major challenge facing patients in Nigeria is the inability of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) to fund cancer treatments. Although, the current co-pay of about N550 is inadequate to support the funding of cancer treatment, the scheme funds cancer screening and simple mastectomies and prostatectomy for breast and prostate cancers.
Following the huge cost of cancer treatment, the primary focus of the government is cancer prevention because it is far more economical to prevent the disease than allow for the onset of the condition.
Although, the federal government signing of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control is laudable, domesticating the protocol will reduce tobacco consumption and ultimately prevent cancer.
On cervical cancer, the National Cervical Control Policy states that girls from nine years should be eligible for the vaccine, Gardasil, which prevents the onset of human papilloma virus that causes cervical cancer. The FMOH is trying to get Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI) country assistance to procure these vaccine at an affordable cost to sustain its inclusion in the National Programme on Immunisation (NPI).
In addition, the FMOH advocates for breast cancer prevention by encouraging self and clinical breast examinations and mammography. This should be done at least every two yeas from age 35 years and above for early detection of breast cancer. Abnormal breast lumps can be evaluated this way for very early treatment intervention, Osinubi said. A mammogram an x-ray of the breast to detect cancer, goes for, which is between N3,000 and N5,000 in public hospitals.
Furthermore, while current government policy urges men to check the serum levels of their Prostate Specific Antigens to detect any unusual rise in its level. High levels may indicate early onset of prostate cancer. Also, skin cancer protection programme is being pursued for albinos. Through Albino Foundations, the FMOH is advocating for the use of sunscreens and protective covering like hats, long sleeve clothing to reduce excessive exposure to sunlight, among others.
If Nigerians responds to the various awareness and preventive programmes in place, medical experts believe that it will translate into routine cancer screening exercises and result in preventing cancers. On the other hand, for those who get cancers like Ama, the increasing cancer treatment centres in the nation will bridge the gap created by limited cancer treating facilities.
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