Cancer: Nigerians tasked on early detection, HPV vaccination

The MedicAid Cancer Foundation (MCF) has enjoined Nigerians to go for regular cancer screening in order to ensure early detection of the disease.

The chief executive officer of the organisation, Dr Zainab ShinkafiBagudu, gave the advice yesterday in Abuja during the foundation’s annual awareness walk and fundraising campaign against cancer tagged #WalkAwayCancer.

Bagudu, who is also the former First Lady of Kebbi State said most people present late for cancer diagnosis and care in the country, adding that early detection was key to reducing the mortality and morbidity from the disease.

She said Nigerians should harness the opportunity of the federal government’s recent introduction of the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine into the country for girls between the age of 9 to 14 years, saying that doing so would help protect them against cervical cancer .

She advised Nigerians to disregard rumours that the HPV vaccine could cause infertility, saying the vaccine is safe, very effective, and that many countries in Africa like Rwanda had introduced it.

She said the foundation ‘s annual awareness walk against cancer, which is in its 14th year, was geared towards creating awareness, adding that the walk always recorded a massive turn out of cancer advocates, survivors, policy makers, non state actors and Nigerians in general.

The Minister of Economic Planning and Budget, Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, called on stakeholders to put more pressure on the government to allocate more funds for cancer treatment and care.

He said the MedicAid Cancer Foundation had been providing support to cancer patients and helped shape a lot of policies in the cancer space.