The Silent Epidemic: Why Nigeria’s Cancer Crisis Demands Urgent Action

world cancer day

As Nigeria commemorates World Cancer Day, the voices of those battling the disease paint a grim picture of a healthcare system failing its most vulnerable.

Development Diaries reports that access to cancer treatment remains a privilege rather than a right in the country, with exorbitant costs and a glaring lack of facilities pushing thousands into avoidable suffering and death.

With only a handful of tertiary hospitals equipped to provide radiotherapy and cancer care, Nigeria’s healthcare infrastructure is woefully inadequate for the scale of the crisis.

Cancer patients are therefore left with the limited options of seeking costly treatment abroad, enduring long waiting times for overstretched local services, or, tragically, giving up altogether.

The statistics are worrying.

According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), Nigeria recorded 127,763 new cancer cases in 2022 alone, with 79,542 deaths. These are not just numbers; they represent fathers, mothers, children, and loved ones who might have had a fighting chance if the right infrastructure and policies were in place.

Cancer treatment in Nigeria is largely out-of-pocket, making it inaccessible for many. The high cost of chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgery forces patients into financial ruin, and without government intervention, the cycle of preventable deaths continues.

Additionally, the lack of early detection programmes means that many patients are diagnosed at advanced stages when treatment options are limited and survival rates plummet.

The Ministry of Health and Social Welfare must take decisive action to bridge the cancer care gap by investing and equipping regional cancer treatment centres across all geopolitical zones to reduce the burden on a few overstretched facilities.

The Dr Ali Pate-led ministry should also introduce a National Cancer Care Fund to provide financial relief for cancer patients, ensuring that treatment is not solely dependent on a patient’s ability to pay.

Another action that the ministry needs to take is expanding health insurance coverage by mandating the inclusion of comprehensive cancer treatment in the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) scheme to reduce out-of-pocket costs.

To improve early detection and screening, the ministry should consider launching nationwide cancer screening programmes for breast, cervical, and prostate cancer, which account for a significant portion of cancer-related deaths in the country.

Photo source: USAID

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