FG urged to implement national cancer institute bill

Breast cancer survivor lament absence of caregivers

Ojoma Akor (Abuja) & Salim Umar Ibrahim (Kano)

The Executive Director of Project Pink Blue, Runcie Chidebe, has called on the federal government to implement the National Institute for Cancer Research and Treatment Bill.

He made the call yesterday in Abuja during an awareness walk organised in collaboration with Transcorp Hilton Hotel, and other partners to commemorate this year’s World Cancer Day.

He said the National Assembly passed the bill into law and President Muhammadu Buhari assented to it in December 2017, adding that to date the bill had neither been gazette nor implemented.

Chidebe said that 124, 000 Nigerians were diagnosed with cancer every year out of which 72, 000 of them die of various forms of cancer.

“The bill is pivotal. We are appealing to the president and to the federal government to implement the bill because it can change the cancer burden in Nigeria just as the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) is doing for HIV,” he said.

A cancer survivor, Ochai Igba Friday, called on the federal government to support cancer patients with funds for treatment saying that many of them had died as a result of a lack of finance to fund cancer care.

Also, Hauwa Adamu Kakudi, who’s a breast cancer survivor and founder of the Save a life Cancer Awareness and Support Network, has lamented how breast cancer patients lack adequate care

Speaking in Kano in commemoration of the 2022 World Cancer Day, she said her organisation had so far created awareness on early detection, prevention and treatment of breast and cervical cancer as well as provided support in order to reduce the mortality rate from breast/cervical cancer.

“We have so far created awareness and provided breast and cervical cancer screening to over 5000 women in Kumbotso, Tofa, Minjibir, and Gaya local government areas as well as students at Police Academy, Wudil and Government Girls College, Dala.

She called on the government to establish more screening centres and make it free for women to be examining their health status.

“In February 2021, we established the first Cancer Support Trust Fund in Kano State in collaboration with Community Health and Research Initiative (CHR) and we intend to raise funds for the Trust Fund during the event in addition to Awareness Fun walk, free breast/cervical screening, free health check (diabetes and high blood pressure), panel discussions with consultants, breast/ cervical cancer survivor’s discussions, living a healthy lifestyle and healthy financial practices.”