Wife of Kebbi State governor and founder of Medicaid Cancer Foundation, Dr Zainab Atiku Bagudu has called for policies that will give private sector enabling environment and incentives for the treatment of cancer.
She made the call during the walk organized by her foundation to create awareness on cancer in Abuja.
She said with the backdrop of challenges cancer patients are facing in the country, such policies will enable the private sector to receive incentives from financial institutions, government and other organizations so that they can have equipment and cancer centres for patients to access at affordable prices.
She said the death rate of cancer is very high in the country because of our weak health systems and lack of policies and screening processes to detect it early.
“If a woman in the United States is diagnosed with breast cancer today, in five years time there is 95 percent chance she will be alive, however for an African woman , and in Nigeria, that chance drops to 15 percent. The difference is in the quality of care and how soon it is picked up. If you pick up cancer at stage one or two, it is easier to battle, but when picked at stage three and four in an area where you do not have enough equipment, there is a problem,” she said. The medical expert said the treatment centres that offer radiotherapy in the country are limited , and Nigeria is supposed to have 11 of such centres but right now, only one which is at the National Hospital, Abuja is working on and off.
She added that the radiotherapy machine at the National Hospital, Abuja is supposed to have an eight -year life span but it is currently in its 16th year thereby subjecting people who come from far to challenges.
Bagudu also called on producers of radiotherapy machines to stop expecting a resource limited place like Africa to pay for such machines upfront but consider making other arrangements that will help them.
Also speaking Governor of Kebbi State , Atiku Bagudu thanked the celebrities and crowd for their commitment in creating awareness adding that with such commitment they can make cancer a story that one day will be like the typewriter which is hardly seen but only heard in history books.
Wife of the vice president, Mrs Dolapo Osinbajo represented the wife of the president Hajiya Aisha Buhari at the event. Several dignitaries, musicians and artists from Nollywood and Kannywood participated in the walk with Korede Bello calling on all Nigerians to become advocates against cancer
Medicaid Cancer Foundation is a nonprofit organization that has been in the forefront of cancer advocacy in Northern Nigeria for six years and recently screened 1, 400 women in Kebbi State.
By: Ojoma Akor
Daily Trust News
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