The National Institute for Cancer Research and Treatment (NICRAT) has disclosed that it is working hard to routinize cancer screening in Nigeria.
This, it said, will lead to transitioning from reactive, late-stage treatment to a preventive, early-detection model.
The Director General of NICRAT, Prof. Usman Malami Aliyu, disclosed this when a team from the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) Health Services and Environment Secretariat, led by Head, Disease Control Division in the Public Health Department, Dr. Ngozi Ebisike, visited him in Abuja, Wednesday.
This implies that cancer screening will soon be available and integrated into regular, scheduled medical tests at every hospital visit.
Represented by the Director, Cancer Prevention and Control, Dr. Usman Muhammad Waziri, the NICRAT DG noted that: “The Institute is working hard to routinize cancer screening because early detection is key. People at risk of cancer should have a place where they can go and get screened rather than waiting until when there is an outreach by a Non Governmental Organisation (NGO).
“We are equipping both pathological component, diagnostic component as well as other images. Already, all our centres have mammography machines install in them. I don’t know how many mammography machines are available across the FCT hospitals, how functional are they and whether they are doing routine mammography.”
He stressed that: “These are areas that we are already working on and I think we need to sit and form a partnership committee and streamline where we can work together and where we are already doing some activities, we consolidate and expand the collaboration with the FCTA.”
He disclosed that the Institute has enjoyed tremendous support from the President Tinubu-led government which resulted in the implementation of policies and programmes that have, so far, transformed the cancer landscape in Nigeria.
He said that NICRAT recently concluded a successful cancer awareness campaign and free screening services across the six Area Councils of the FCT.
According to him
Prof. Malami commended the FCTA’ Health Services and Environment Secretariat team for the visit and assured that the Institute is ready to collaborate with both local and international partners to deliver on its mandate as given to it by the President Bola Ahmad Tinubu-led government.
Earlier, the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) Health Services and Environment Secretariat, expressed its willingness to enter into a strategic partnership with NICRAT in the areas of cancer awareness campaign, preventive services, capacity building for oncology workforce and cancer data management.
Speaking on behalf of the delegation, the Head, Disease Control Division in the Public Health Department of the FCTA, Dr. Ngozi Ebisike, said the visit reaffirms the FCTA’s commitment to protect and improve the health of the FCT residents through preventive, equitable, and integrated public health services.
Dr. Ebisike disclosed that the visit aims at strengthening collaboration between NICRAT and FCTA’s Health Services and Environment Secretariat, focusing on expanded and integrated screening programs, especially at the grassroots level across the 6 Area Councils; strengthening capacity building for health workers in early detection, minimal treatment if applicable and referral systems; strengthening data sharing, harmonization and inter-operability of Abuja cancer registry and strengthening surveillance and research collaboration on cancer care and tobacco prevention to improve evidence-based decision-making and intervention programs.
Other key potential areas for collaboration, she stated, include policy domestication and implementation that ensures equitable access to cancer care; support to intensify demand generation and patient navigation pathways; enhance stronger partnership in cancer awareness and tobacco cessation campaigns at community level; expanding treatment access and strengthening infrastructure for cancer care (especially breast cancer) in FCT hospitals and support cascade of tobacco prevention among adolescents in and out of schools.
While commending NICRAT for its leadership in cancer research and control in Nigeria, Dr. Ebisike noted that the policies and programs initiated by the Institute have positioned the country in the right path to fighting cancer to a stand-still.
