The Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, during a press briefing held to commemorate the 2020 World Cancer Day said that the number of deaths caused by cancer in the country annually is 72,000 while about 102,000 new cases of cancer are recorded annually.
Speaking in Abuja, While giving statistics on the occurrence of the disease, Ehanire said for a number of factors there are an increase cancer cases in the Niger Delta area of the country. He added that government was partnering the American Cancer Society and Clinton Health Access Initiative to make 16 chemotherapy medications available at 65 per cent cheaper than the current market cost.
According to the Minister, “Projections from Globocan show that lower-income countries were home to 57 per cent of new cases and 65 per cent of cancer deaths in 2012. Their share of incidence is expected to increase to approximately 70 per cent of the predicted 24 million people who will be diagnosed with cancer annually by 2050.
“According to the Nigeria National Cancer Prevention and Control Plan (2018-2022), cancer is responsible for 72,000 deaths in Nigeria every year with an estimated 102,000 new cases of cancer annually.
The Minister listed institutions who will make chemotherapy medications available at 65 per cent cheaper, which include: Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria; Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano; Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Lagos; National Hospital, Abuja; Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital, Ile Ife; University College Hospital, Ibadan; and University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu.
He also said that common cases of cancer included lung, liver, pancreatic cancers and brain tumours cancers. “The top five cancer burdens in Nigeria are prostate, liver, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, colorectal and pancreatic for the male and breast, cervical, liver, lolorectal and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma for the female. Of these, breast and cervical cancers are responsible for approximately 50.3 per cent of all cancers in Nigeria.” - Dr Osagie Ehanire said.
The frightening statistics came just as the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has expressed worry over what it described as the low implementation of Nigeria’s cancer control action plan.
The president of NMA, Dr Francis Faduyile, who spoke at a public lecture organised by doctors to mark this year’s World Cancer Day in Abuja on Tuesday, lamented that Nigeria presently has about 115,950 new cancer cases and an estimated 70,327 cancer-related deaths in 2018. He described the situation as very disturbing since the affliction is largely preventable through lifestyle modification, vaccination and early screening tests.
While acknowledging the efforts of the federal government in addressing issues relating to cancer treatment in Nigeria, NMA said it is concerned about the low rate of implementation of the Nigerian Cancer Control Plan (2018-2022). He said NMA would recommend the setting up of cancer treatment centres in all the six geographical zones of the country.
Faduyile said: “We are midway into the time frame for implementation of the plan with little progress made. We are worried that there is no clear national policy on cancer which is very important to drive the activities and actions needed to prevent cancer and its attendant morbidities and mortalities.”
The NMA president said the body will continue to partner will all relevant stakeholders in the fight against the scourge of cancer and also strive to improve the quality of healthcare delivery in the country.
