By Hassan Zaggi
The Director General of the National Institute for Cancer Research and Treatment (NICRAT), Prof. Usman Malami, has commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, for transferring the Cancer Health Fund (CHF) from the Federal Ministry of Health to NICFAT.
This, according to him, is a welcome development that will reduce the burden of cancer patients in the country.
He stated this while responding to questions from Journalists at a 2-day Cancer Conference which was held as part of activities marking the International Cancer Week, in Abuja.
The conference provided .stakeholders in the Cancer space in Nigeria the opportunity to deliberate about current trends in Cancer care.
The conference was also aimed at examining the progress made in cancer care in Nigeria and to proffer solution to the challenges bedevilling easy access to affordable cancer care in the country.
It would be recalled that the Minister of State for Health, Dr. Tunji Alausa, announced the transfer of the Fund to NICRAT at the opening ceremony of the 2023 International Cancer Week.
The CHF, an initiative of the Federal Ministry of Health, is a social service and an innovative way to provide affordable cancer treatment for indigent patients at treatment centers across Nigeria.
According to Prof. Malami, “The importance of the transfer of the Fund is that the bureaucratic bottleneck that usually stall the processes of transfer of the funds to Cancer patients so that they can get the needed services including surgery, chemotherapy, the diagnostic services and the Radiotherapy are actually made easy.
“With this transfer, NICRAT is actually the agency that will take leadership in the area of cancer control and research and it has all the needed personnel required to disburse the funds to all the qualified beneficiaries. Part of the renewed hope agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is to improve health care services to the common man. “From what the minister of State for Health said yesterday, the aim of the CHF is to provide quality services that are needed for all cancer patient’s in the country. We really thank the federal government for taking this important decision.
