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From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
Minister of State for Health, Dr. Tunji Alausa, has announced the plans of the Federal Government to build six new cancer treatment centres in six tertiary healthcare facilities across the country.
He disclosed that the cancer treatment
centres would be built in the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu; Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaira; Federal Tertiary Hospital, Katsina; University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin; University of Jos Teaching Hospital, Jos; and Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Lagos
The Minister disclosed the plans, in Abuja, on Monday, at a World Cancer Day Symposium with the theme: “Economy, Tax and Cancer Control: The Exit of Pharmaceutical Companies from Nigeria” organized by Project Pink Blue.
He explained the the treatment centre was evenly allocated to the six geopolitical zones in Nigeria to enable improved and quick access to cancer response and treatment.
He said that N20bn has been secured for the construction of the cancer centres within the next three years. “Sadly, the value of the money has depreciated because of the rising inflation. There is no way we could use the N20bn to build the cancer centres because the value has dropped significantly. We had to make presentation to the President and the National Assembly to give us additional budgetary allocation to build the six cancer centres. We have gotten the additional funding that we need. The groundbreaking will happen in the next few weeks.”
Speaking during the panel discussion, the Director General, Nigerian Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NNRA), Dr. Yau Usman Idris, stressed the need for the government to prioritize healthcare in the country, saying it is not possible to treat over 200million population with the kind of equipment available in the country.
Executive Director, Project Pink Blue, Runcie Chidebe, in his remarks, advocated improved funding for the fight against cancer in Nigeria, as well as coordinated efforts to achieve more results.
He appreciated the efforts and commitment of several stakeholders involved in cancer response in Nigeria, and suggested a policy that could result in reduction in the cost of cancer treatment in Nigeria.
He appealed to the stakeholders that made several commitments during the World Cancer Day, to back up their promises with action so there could improved results and indices in the next year’s event.
Meanwhile, some participants at the symposium advocated increased collaboration with various pharmaceutical companies to review the cost of cancer chemotherapy with some international non-governmental organisations such as the Clinton Health Access Initiative, the American Cancer Society and some pharmaceutical companies like Pfizer, Roche, Johnson and Johnson. “These pharmaceutical companies are providing 50 percent discount in some cancer chemotherapy,” they said.
