The recent prediction by the World Health Organisation (WHO) that cancer deaths in Africa in 20 years time may overtake the global average of 30 per cent should be of great concern to African leaders and their health authorities. The global health agency has specifically stated that cancer deaths in the region may reach one million by 2030 if urgent measures are not put in place to check the cancer scourge.
According to the WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, who stated this during this year’s World Cancer Day, the cancer situation in Africa is discouraging. Available statistics showed that in 2022, not less than 882,882 new cancer cases were recorded in the WHO African region. The region also recorded 573,653 cancer deaths. Also, 50 per cent of new cancer cases in adults in the region are due to breast, cervical, prostate, colorectal and liver cancers.
About 124,815 Nigerians are diagnosed with cancer annually. Nigeria records not less than 78, 899 deaths every year from the scourge due to lack of care and high cost of treatment. It costs between N10 million and N30 million to treat cancer in the country. In 2020, of the 124,815 cancer cases in Nigeria, 51,398 occurred in males. The commonest cancer in males in Nigeria is prostate cancer at 29.8 per cent, while breast cancer is commonest among females at 38.7 per cent.
Globally, WHO says that cancer is a leading cause of death, accounting for almost 10 million deaths in 2020, or nearly one in six deaths. The most common cancers are breast, lung, colon, rectum, and prostate cancers. According to the WHO, about one-third of deaths from cancer are due to tobacco use, high body mass index, alcohol consumption, low fruit and vegetable intake, and lack of physical activity. It also points out that cancer-causing infections, such as human papillomavirus (HPV) and hepatitis, are responsible for about 30 per cent of cancer cases in low-and lower-middle-income countries. However, it says that many cancers can be cured if detected early and treated effectively.
Medical experts are of the view that cancer risk can be reduced by not using tobacco, maintaining a healthy body weight, eating a healthy diet, including fruits and vegetables. Other preventive measures include doing physical activity on a regular basis; avoiding or reducing consumption of alcohol, getting vaccinated against HPV and hepatitis B if you belong to a group for which vaccination is recommended.
Since the theme of this year’s World Cancer Day is “Closing the Care Gap”, we call on all tiers of government to work in concert to check the cancer scourge by initiating pragmatic measures to close the widening care gap occasioned by the present economic hardship in the country and rising cost of cancer drugs as well as food items. The government should lead the campaign to raise more awareness about cancer, especially reaching many citizens with the vital message that cancer can be cured with early detection and effective treatment.
Therefore, cancer should not be regarded as a death sentence. However, the government should strive to put adequate health infrastructure to frontally address cancer and other health challenges. The government must, as part of national cancer policy, increase funding for cancer detection and treatment. The federal government’s plan to introduce childhood cancer counterpart fund is commendable. It will ensure that children suffering from the disease are given adequate care and treatment.
At the same time, the government’s plan to establish new radiotherapy and nuclear medicine facilities in six federal teaching hospitals across the country should be applauded. The state governments should increase funding for cancer care and treatment. Sadly, most state governors are not doing much in the area of cancer treatment.
Since detection is paramount to cancer treatment and cure, there is need for more cancer screening centres across the country. We urge Nigerians, especially those aged 40 years and above, to go for cancer screening at least once a year. Undoubtedly, the penchant for medical tourism has undermined the development of the health sector. The attendant neglect of the health sector by successive governments has impeded progress in cancer care and treatment.
Let President Bola Tinubu change the narrative by prioritising the health sector funding and cancer treatment. Government can also subsidise the cost of cancer treatment, which many cancer patients cannot afford.