Government on Monday said it would soon launch free cancer screening for women in the country. The initiative is expected to reduce the current burden of the disease among women in the nation. National Coordinator, National Cancer Control Programme and Head, Nuclear Medicine Programme, Dr Rahmatu Hassan, disclosed this to National Mirror in her office in Abuja. She said cervical cancer, which affects only women, represents 60 percent of cancers in Nigeria. Cancer is currently one of the most rapidly growing killer diseases in Nigeria.
Dr Hassan said government would first launch the programme as pilot in two states of the federation, with each from northern and southern part of the country. She explained that making cervical cancer screening free would reduce the disease’ burden and would enhance prompt and early treatment for those who have the ailment.
According to her, the programme to be launched this year is being sponsored by the Federal Government, in conjunction with the Institute of Human Virology, IHVN. “Many NGOs undertake cervical cancer screening under the guidance of this ministry and other agencies.
They do it in pockets; sometimes to commemorate certain activities or they do it periodically. But, there is not yet a system in place to make it possible for women to get cervical cancer screening as a matter of course.
"So, we in the Federal Ministry of Health have seen that countries where cancer screening is being offered to women across board have been able to crash down the prevalence. We have sat down to see from our data nationwide that cervical cancer is representing 60 percent of cancers in Nigeria. And, that tells a lot. It means that a lot of our women are living with cancer; that cancer occurs more in our women.
“It is cervical cancer that is the culprit. We cannot just sit around and be watching. So, because of that, we have seen from other countries that have undertaken such a project that when you routinely screen women, you are able to get it when it is just starting. And, you are able to nip it in the bud. And, you will bring down the number of sufferers of cancer. That is what we want to duplicate in Nigeria. Because of that, we are strategizing the Nigerian Cervical Cancer Screening Scale-up Project, whereby a woman of 35 years and above is offered cervical cancer screening, at least, once in her life time.”
“It is cervical cancer that is the culprit. We cannot just sit around and be watching. So, because of that, we have seen from other countries that have undertaken such a project that when you routinely screen women, you are able to get it when it is just starting. And, you are able to nip it in the bud. And, you will bring down the number of sufferers of cancer. That is what we want to duplicate in Nigeria. Because of that, we are strategizing the Nigerian Cervical Cancer Screening Scale-up Project, whereby a woman of 35 years and above is offered cervical cancer screening, at least, once in her life time.”
Source: nationalmirroronline.net
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