STILL ON THE CANCER SCOURGE

Government must do more to contain the ailment

Health authorities may not be paying adequate attention but the rate at which cancer is claiming lives in Nigeria has become  alarming. Although hardly reported, too many people, young and old and regardless of social status are succumbing to the ailment. Estimated to  be the most important cause of morbidity and mortality in the next few decades across all regions of the world, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) is already projecting that by 2030, over 21 million people will be diagnosed with cancer and 13 million will die from the disease every year. By 2030 also, it is expected that 60 per cent of the new cancer cases and 70 per cent of cancer-related deaths will occur in developing countries, particularly in Africa.

Statistics of deaths from cancer are so chilling that most medical experts are now agreed that the disease has become an important health care concern for the country. It is bad enough that cancer is a terminal disease, it is worse when most Nigerian hospitals and medical centres lack the diagnostic capacity to quickly detect and treat cancer infections. This has greatly compounded the problem, forcing several Nigerians to travel to countries like India, the Emirates, United Kingdom, etc., in search of treatment for the disease. The economic consequence of this is that it has led to so much capital flight.

Further complicating the situation is the low awareness of the scourge among Nigerians, especially rural women. The Federal Ministry of Health and the National Orientation Agency (NOA) are yet to create the level of awareness that would bring sufferers to the danger of the cancer scourge. Instructively, the most common types of cancer in Nigeria are carcinoma of the uterine cervix and breast for women and liver and prostate cancers for men over 40 years. But what is responsible for the growth of cancer scourge in Nigeria?

Although medical experts differ somewhat as to the exact causes of the disease, there seems to be some agreement that one of the major causes is the habit of the people which is not helped by government policy or lack of one. For instance, while most countries are making stringent laws against tobacco use, our government seems to be encouraging it.

Yet the burden of cancer is enormous. It is costly and time-consuming to build human resource capacity in cancer control. For instance, it takes at least four years to train an oncologist after medical school, depending on the country of training. Without a strategic planning of the workforce, the whole cancer control infrastructure could be ineffective. Therefore, before embarking on the construction of a cancer control facility, it is important to ascertain the availability of clinical oncologists, screening workers, oncology nurses, pathologists, radiation therapy technicians, and palliative care practitioners.

All said, we believe that the task of saving its citizens from the cancer scourge remains essentially with government which must provide both the basic facilities to combat the disease and to create the enabling environment that can facilitate the collaboration of the private sector in tackling the menace. Increased awareness campaigns, improvements in public health and increased funding for health care initiatives – by government, donor agencies,

and development partners – are all likely to

lead to a decrease in the incidence of the killer disease. Nigerians themselves must

also begin to imbibe the  culture of regular medical check-ups so they can commence treatment of any diagnosed ailment promptly. Regular exercise, weight loss and imbibing the culture of health maintenance could remarkably reduce the risk of cancer. Prevention, as the old saying goes, is always better than cure.