Enugu — The Federal Government has said ignorance was mainly responsible for the high mortality rate for cancer patients in the country, insisting that adequate diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer would improve the survival rate of patients with the disease.
The Minister of Health, Prof Isaac Adewole who spoke at the 1st Nationwide Go Pink Day ball and official flag off of breast cancer initiative and intervention fund by Breast Without Spot (BWS) in Enugu said so many cancer patients had lost their lives as a result of poor awareness.
Prof Adewole who was represented by the Cancer Control Coordinator of the ministry, Dr. David Atuwo however disclosed that the Federal Government was working hard to address the problem by increasing awareness on the management of cancer.
The Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu who was represented by the President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo in Enugu state, Chief Alex Ogbonna, Deputy Governor of the state, Mrs. Cecelia Ezeilo and the former minister of Power, Prof Chinedu Nebo expressed delight with the launch of the BWS initiative, noting that early detection of the disease would save so many lives.
They extolled the activities of BWS led by Prof Ifeoma Okoye in driving the cancer project which according to them had a high cost implication in treatment and as well beyond the reach of most people.
Also speaking, the Media and Public Relations Manager of Pfizer, Ngozi Ushedo said the company would always support awareness programmes on cancer in order to reduce its mortality rate.
"This collaboration is aimed at providing increased awareness on breast cancer and reaching out to the government to take action against the disease.
Pfizer will continue to support awareness programs on cancer as early detection and treatment can help in reducing the number of deaths. We are committed to fostering hope in the fight against breast cancer in our communities," Ushedo said.
The founder, Breast Without Spot, (BWS) Prof. Okoye said the fear of being stigmatised and out of pocket payment continued to drive away early detected cases from the hospital and contributed to increasing deaths from the disease.
She said that many citizens suffer untold hardship due to late stage cancer and treatment failure.
"Illiteracy and ignorance about cancer are widespread in Nigeria and that is why it has the highest cancer death rate in Africa and one of the major drivers for the high morbidity is the unaffordable medical bills associated with late presentation."
She said the fear that fuels the perception could only be buried if we could change the narrative, through improving survivorship and increase the number of people who were alive to share their stories.
"The intervention fund will be utilised to improve 25per cent and seek a marching grant of 75 per cent to complete the payment of people with the disease," she said.
She regretted that 26 women die every day from breast cancer because of the refusal of the patients to identify and share their stories for fear of stigmatisation.
"Ensuring sustained awareness to improved compliance with healthy living and screening recommendations must mandatorily be complimented by providing and international fund to ensure those detected early are assured to access medical management across the continuum of care."
She pledged that the foundation will continue to make determined efforts to ensure that the ravaging effects of breast cancer was controlled in the 17 local governments in the state and beyond.
Breast without spot is a Not-for-profit and non-governmental organization with the mission to reduce the burden of death due to late cancer detection and other communicable diseases through health education, screening vaccination, training and research on all cancers and communicable diseases.
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