As cancer continues to be a source of worry for Nigerians due to the increased number of people who have been killed by the disease in recent time, Martins Ifijeh looks at the role of communication in curbing the disease

 

It is no longer news that one of the health issues currently ravaging the country is cancer, which unfortunately kills 10 Nigerians per hour or 240 persons per day. What seems to be the news, according to available statistics is that this figure will double in the nearest decade if nothing is done to reduce the scourge, which the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said was preventable.

 

WHO report has shown that well over 100,000 new cases of cancers are diagnosed yearly in Nigeria, out of which 80,000 of those affected die, especially from the commonest cancer types in the country.

 

For instance, breast cancer kills 40 Nigerian women daily, prostate cancer currently kills 26 Nigerian men daily, while cervical cancer kills about 26 Nigerian women every day. All these are data from 2014 cancer surveys, which means these figures have most likely increased in 2015.

 

Available information suggests that this figure will snowball into an uncontrollable health issue for the country within the next decade because of various identifiable factors which experts say must be looked at if the country must win the war against the scourge.

 

Among the identified factors are; late presentation of cancer cases, lack of adequate facilities to match the diseases, high cost of treatment, among other factors. But chief among these factors, according to some school of thoughts is the late presentation of cases by Nigerians, which has seen treatment and management of the disease difficult for professionals to handle, thereby leading to thousands of deaths yearly.

 

No wonder, a Consultant, Clinical and Radiation Oncologist, Dr. Omolola Salako, vented her frustration recently while chatting with THISDAY. She said as an oncologist, she was no longer enjoying her job because of the high number of deaths of her cancer patients due to their late presentation of cases, adding that cancer can be almost 100 per cent treatable if presentations were made on time, but that rather, the late presentation of cases was making the work uninteresting for her.

 

 

Salako, who said if  the trend continues, she may retire early as the job satisfaction was no longer there, added that the major way to preventing the high deaths from cancer in the country was for the cancer patients to imbibe the culture of bringing their cases on time for treatments.

 

“By the time people present cases to the hospital, you will discover their cancer has reached stage 3 or stage 4. And at these stages, treatment is difficult, even though some percentage of persons still come out alive from it, but the guarantee is higher when people present cases either at the pre cancerous stage, stage 1 or stage 2,” she noted.

 

She said if we must defeat the scourge, awareness must continue to go round. People must be tasked to cultivate the habit of undergoing medical check ups and then informed on self examination, as well as present cases on time for treatment.

 

She noted that breast cancer, which has become the number one killer of women in the country was 100 per cent preventable if every Nigerian adhere to self examination practise and present changes in their breast to the doctor for onward diagnosis and advise.

 

“Women who find lumps on their breasts or any other changes other than the normal changes occasioned by menstruation, ovulation or breastfeeding, should as a matter of importance, visit their doctors for onward examination and advice. If lumps are detected, they can be removed before it can even become cancer.

 

“While promoting awareness against breast cancer, women should be told the importance of knowing what their normal breast is, they must be told what to look out for during breast examination; which is lumps, skin changes around the breasts, change in nipple position, as well as size of the breast,” she noted.

 

According to her, Nigerians should stop living in denials that cancer was far from them. “We must recognise that it is not far from us, only that we must make conscious efforts to protect ourselves against the scourge,”she added.

 

On cervical cancer, the oncologist noted that even though cervical cancer kills over 17,000 women yearly in the country, it was one of the most preventable cancer, if women adhere strictly to the measures of prevention.

 

She explained that as young girls begin to attain ages nine and above, it was necessary that they are vaccinated against cervical cancer, even before they start having sex, as this would go a long way in preventing the scourge, adding that, women who are already having sexual intercourse can still go for the vaccination. “The vaccination costs about N15,000,” she added.

 

“Outside the vaccination, there are also two types of tests that every woman must undergo if we must prevent cervical cancer; there is the Visual Inspection with Acetic acid (VIA), which costs about N1,500, and then the paps smear, which is about N10,000. With these various tests, it is guaranteed that cervical cancer will be a thing of the past. The paps smear should be done every three years,” she said.

 

While noting that the cost of the three tests may amount to about N30,000, which may be a lot of money for the majority of women who can barely feed themselves and their children, she said the cost of cervical treatment and the pain and suffering that comes with the disease was far too much an alternative, hence every woman should take it as a priority to protect themselves against the dreaded health issue.

 

She, however called on the government to subsidize the tests so that every woman in the country can benefit from it.

 

Salako, also noted that she was not the only one frustrated by the increased late presentation of cases by cancer patients, but that every oncologist in the country was going through the same dilemma, adding that journalists, various arms of government, health bodies and public spirited individuals, must make concerted efforts to educate the public on the need for cancer screenings and early presentation.

 

She explained that one of the best ways to tackle cancer issues was for people to cultivate the habits of going for medical checkups, as this would mean cancer can be prevented even before showing any sign at all, and that this would guarantee that nobody would ever die of cancer in the country again.

 

Research has shown that one in every three Nigerians will be diagnosed of one form of cancer or the other during their lifetime and it is believed that more than 80 per cent of these people do not have access to treatment and management, while over 70 per cent of them may not know they have cancer until it’s too late.

 

In a recent interview, an oncologist, Dr. Reuben Olabode, while delivering a lecture on ‘Eradicating Cancer through Awareness Campaigns’ in Lagos,, also raised the alarm that most Nigerians were dying needlessly from the disease due to late presentation of the disease.

 

He said most victims either wished the disease away or blamed it on witchcraft. “Nigerians always make the hospital the last port of call. They first resort to other religious helps or outrightly live on self denial and then only turn up at the hospital when their state has become irredeemable.”

 

He said even majority of those who prefer to get treatments in advanced countries like Germany, United States, Canada, among others, often do not come back home alive because they often present their cases late.

He called on all stakeholders to put measures in place that would encourage cancer screening.

 

By This Day