Atinuke Foundation Gives Hope to People Living with Cancer
In commemoration of the festive season, the Atinuke Cancer Foundation (ACF) hosted cancer patients and caregiver to an end of the year party celebration. The foundation also supported the medical treatments of nine cancer patients with the sum of N100, 000 each.
The event which held at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, (LUTH) Radiotherapy Department recently, was one aimed at giving hope to those fighting the life threatening disease which has accounted for the loss of several lives.
Participants were treated to healthy diets, good music and taken through lectures on how they could best take care of themselves, and be taking care of by their loved ones, even as lots of gifts were showered on them by the foundation.
Speaking with THISDAY, the Founder ACF, Mrs. Atinuke Lawal, a cancer survivor, said by showing cancer patients love and care, they can heal faster, get well and live longer.
She said: “As we always do at the end of every year, we celebrate Christmas with cancer patients. We believe that when they are shown love and care, they can actually heal faster or get well.
“We feel that cancer patients should never be stigmatised because it’s nobody’s fault. It is a no respecter of anybody. Nobody knows how it comes, so cancer patients shouldn’t be stigmatised but loved and celebrated.
“Here in Nigeria, we all know that we are just coming up, but we would continue to strive and do more to educate our people, create awareness, support as we can, and also advocate that the government should take care of our health sector. We need more care, mostly for cancer patients.
“I must let you realise that I am a cancer survivor, and I survived here in this hospital before it was improved upon. When I was undergoing my treatment, we only had one radiotherapy machine working in the whole Nigeria.
“We started this advocacy and things are beginning to get better. Now we have three radiotherapy machines in this hospital and several others all in other hospitals all over Nigeria.
However, you must know that traveling abroad, does not guarantee surviving cancer, it is grace.”
She said with the right equipment and support in the health sector, things would be a lot better, adding that the country can actually eradicate cancer.
“The government only has to play a crucial role of subsidising cancer treatments like it did for HIV/AIDS. In fact it can be made free. Treatment of cancer on an average is over N10 million. Not everyone can afford that. We have Nigerians who can’t even eat a square meal living with cancer. It is not their fault; hence government should intervene as a matter of urgency.”
Also speaking, the Chairman of the occasion, Mr. Tokunbo Aromolaran described the occasion as one aimed at putting smiles on the faces of those fighting cancer.
He said: “I’m here today in support of the foundation that is basically looking at how to bring some mile to the faces of those who have already been affected by cancer, and to do whatever is possible to prevent those who are not but are potential sufferers from getting affected.
“It is a disease that can be nipped in the board if it is caught up with on time. In most other climes, what government does is to make sure that they educate and create awareness to potential sufferers on ways to avoid it. These are avoidable diseases and it can be very painful when it takes root.
“People suffer needlessly and it is also very expensive to treat. Many of our people cannot afford it; hence prevention becomes a much easier way of helping the populace to avoid it. And if by chance they get to suffer it, they can find out in good time, so they can avail themselves for the necessary treatment,” he said.