Nigeria records 100,000 new cancer cases annually - Ajekigbe

A professor of radiotherapy and oncology with the College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Akoka, Aderemi Ajekigbe, has said that Nigeria records 100,000 new cases of cancer every year.

 

Ajekigbe, who delivered the 21st inaugural lecture of UNILAG on Thursday titled ‘’Cancer. The Unwanted Guest’’, said that Nigeria at the moment had about two million recorded cases of cancer.

 

According to the professor, the incidence of cancer is increasing at an alarming rate in developing countries like Nigeria due to the poor state of health facilities, poor funding of cancer care, late diagnosis and detection of the deadly disease.

 

 

Ajekigbe called on the Federal Government to address the increasing number of Nigerians dying from cancer due to poor access to treatment and funds needed to manage the disease.

 

He said, “The global incidence of cancer is soaring but cancer cases are worse and death rates are higher in Nigeria because cancer patients are usually poor and they have little access to treatment in the country.

 

“ At every time, there are only four functioning radiotherapy machines in the country, others may have broken down due to the high patient load on it.

 

“ Patients who can afford it will travel out when they can no longer wait for the machines to start working while the poor patients suffer in silence.

 

“Even most of the patients who can afford to treat their cancer abroad come back in body bags. That is why we need to have our own facilities that will enable us screen, detect and treat cancer cases early.

 

“We cannot afford to lose more Nigerians to cancer. Government should dedicate the proceeds from an oil block to the provision of cancer equipment and treatment. It is a need.” The oncologist, who defined cancer as an abnormal and uncontrolled growth that persists in the body, said women had a higher risk of being diagnosed with cancer when compared to men.

 

“More than 40 per cent of cancer occurs in women. Breast and cervical cancer are the commonest forms of cancer and they occur in women. That is why every woman should examine her breast regularly. Cancer can happen to anyone but it does not have to be a death sentence if it is detected early.”