He disclosed this in a statement he issued on Thursday in
Abuja to mark the World Cancer Day, annually marked on Feb. 4 to raise
awareness on cancer and to encourage its prevention, early detection, and
treatment.
He said that the Federal Ministry of Health under his watch
had continued to improve access to cancer care services, especially in
diagnosis, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy services.
Chemotherapy is an aggressive form of chemical drug therapy
meant to destroy rapidly growing cells in the body. It’s usually used to treat
cancer, as cancer cells grow and divide faster than other cells.
Radiotherapy, also another way of treating cancer, is where
radiation is used to kill cancer cells. It may be used in the early stages of
cancer.
Ehanire, therefore, stated that “we are currently improving
services in some hospitals across the country, with the installation of
radiotherapy machines already in advanced stages in UNTH Enugu, UBTH Benin,
UDUTH Sokoto, UCH Ibadan and ABUTH Zaria.
“These would have been completed, but for the hitches caused
by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I also approved the inclusion of 12 additional hospitals in
the ongoing Cancer Access Partnership (CAP) Programme; this will increase the
number of hospitals offering this service from seven as at the 2020 World
Cancer Day to 18 as at today.
“The initial seven hospitals offering the service were
National Hospital Abuja, ABUTH Zaria, AKTH Kano, OAUTHC Ile-Ife, UCH Ibadan,
LUTH Lagos and UNTH Enugu.
“The additional hospitals are FTH Gombe, UPTH Port Harcourt,
UBTH Benin, UITH Ilorin, UCTH Calabar, AEFUTHA Abakaliki, JUTHJos, UDUTH
Sokoto, FMC Birnin Kebbi, NAUTH Nnewi, ABUTH Bauchi and Kalgo Medical Centre in
Kebbi.
“The CAP programme also improved from nine molecules from
one manufacturer to 20 products in 29 formulations from three manufacturers.’’
According to him, the Federal Ministry of Health
successfully developed a National Chemotherapy Safety (ChemoSafe) policy in
2020, which will be launched soon.
He said “we also developed a National Hospice and Palliative
Care Policy to address the Palliative Care Need of cancer patients and other
patients that may need the services.
“This policy will also be launched this year.’’
The minister noted that government established the Cancer
Health Management Fund in 2020 to demonstrate its commitment to improving
access to cancer care services.
He added that government had already developed indigent
patients’ selection criteria to ensure that only those who needed the fund
benefit from it.
“This is meant to complement other patients assisted
programmes like the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) and the CAP
programme.
“We are currently working out modalities to ensure that
almost all cancer care services are covered by NHIS.’’
Ehanire urged stakeholders in the Cancer Ecosystem to join
hands with the ministry to take the war against cancer to the next level.
Globally, he said, there was continuous rise in the
incidence of cancers, especially in low- and middle-income countries, including
Nigeria.
He said “according to available statistics from our Cancer
Registries, the Age Standardised incidence Rate (ASR) in males started rising
at age 35-39 years and peaked by 70 – 74 years, while the rise in females
startedat age 25-29 years and peaked at 65-69 years between 2009 and now.
“We have also started seeing increased incidence of
childhood cancers, especially haematological cancers in our facilities.”
According to him, the theme of the 2021 World Cancer Day “I
AM and I WILL” is still the theme that has been reflected on for 2019 and 2020.
He explained that the ministry had commenced full
implementation of the “screen, see and treat” programme of the Federal Ministry
of Health in collaboration with the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI).
“The objective of this programme is to embark on massive
awareness, free screening and treatment of precancerous lesions of 430,000
women in three pilot states of Kaduna, Lagos and Rivers.
“And in 2020, over 1000 Health Care Workers (doctors,
nurses, Lab scientists, CHEWS and data collectors) in the three states and the
Federal Capital Territory were trained and over one thousand women screened in
the course of hands-on training of the health professionals.’’
In addition, he said, the ministry had intensified efforts
to ensure wider accessibility and availability of Human Papilloma Virus vaccine
through the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA) within this
year 2021.
“This will target our young girls and boys (9-13 years of
age) to eliminate Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) which is known to be responsible
for over 70 percent of cervical cancer cases,” the minister noted. (NAN)
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