Constitute Committee To Oversee Cancer Health Fund

The Federal Government has set aside N1.5 billion to support indigent Nigerians, including children, battling with cancer to ensure that they get special care.

 
Out of the amount, the sum of N1 billion is meant for adult cancer care while N500 million is meant to boost the fight against childhood cancer.  Already, a committee has been set up by the Federal government to implement the Cancer Health Fund (CHF).
 
The committee, which comprises experts, is expected to thoroughly assess the deployment, eligibility, accessibility, visibility and transparency of the fund, which is now domiciled in the National Institute for Cancer Research and Treatment (NICRAT). 
 
Director-General of NICRAT, Dr. Usman Aliyu, who stated this at a media parley organised by the institute in collaboration with the International Society of Media on Public Health (ISMPH), yesterday, in Abuja, noted that plans were being finalised for the launch of a national cancer registry, which is very critical in the cancer prevention, treatment and care system.
 
Aliyu said the absence of a national registry undermines the national planning efforts, adding that the establishment of the registry would  promote early detection that enables appropriate referrals when necessary as well as early treatment. 
 
He noted that a recent report by the Global Cancer Observatory (GLOBOCAN) showed that 120,000 new cancer cases with about 80,000 deaths were recorded in Nigeria in 2022. 
 
According to him, for both sexes, the data showed that breast cancer tops the chart with an estimated 32,278 cases (25.3 per cent); followed by prostate cancer with 18,019 cases (14.1 per cent); cervical cancer with 13,676 (10.7 per cent); colorectum cancer with 8,114 (6.4 per cent); Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma cancer 5,194 (4.1 per cent) and others 50,482 (39.5 per cent).
 
He disclosed that the institute was prioritising preventive cancer care considering the increasing cases of the disease in the country. Aliyu observed that the cancer burden in Nigeria is scary, adding that a lot of people are affected and dying of cancer but are not captured in the current estimated figures. 
 
“So, the cancer figure is scary. The projection is that the figure will double if nothing is done. We have to commend President Bola Tinubu for bringing NICRAT to prepare the country for the war ahead. NICRAT is empowered to guide scientific improvement in cancer prevention, treatment and care. It is also to coordinate and liaise with a wide range of groups and health care providers with interest in care,” he added. 
 
Aliyu stated that the government has made huge investments in combating cancer scourge in the country and wants to position Nigeria as a hub for cancer prevention, treatment and care in Africa. 
 
Given these realities, he emphasised that NICRAT’s priorities for 2024 include mapping cancer occurrences, enhancing treatment capabilities, allocating resources for data collection and addressing the costs associated with closing identified gaps, all aimed at an aggressive push against the disease.
 
He recalled that the Federal Ministry of Health recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) for the establishment of six Oncology Centres of Excellence in six Federal Teaching Hospitals across the geo-political zones.
 
Aliyu pointed out that to boost the government’s efforts, the institute was considering the establishment of six new preventive oncology centres across the geo-political zones. 
 
“This is because prevention is critical in cancer issues and that is why we want to provide an avenue for people to have access to where they can go for screening. During the screening, if cancer is diagnosed, it makes prevention possible because that is when it can be caught early if the presentation was not done late,” he added. 
 
He revealed that six locations have been selected for establishing the centres to ensure accessibility and availability of service. They include Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Jabi, Abuja for the North Central geo-political zone; FMC Ebute Metta, Lagos for the South West; the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), Enugu for the South East; FMC Gombe, for North East, Uthman Danfodiyo Teaching Hospital (UDUTH), Sokoto and University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin.
 
Also speaking, the Director of Cancer Prevention and Control, NICRAT, Dr. Usman Waziri, urged parents to take advantage of the ongoing free Human Papiloma Virus (HPV) vaccination and get their eligible female children vaccinated in order to protect them against cervical cancer.