FG establishes three oncology centres to combat cancer

As part of its efforts to enhance the diagnosis and effective treatment of cancer patients in the country, the Federal Government has delivered three world-class oncology centres in Nigeria.

The Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate, who disclosed this on Thursday in Benin City, Edo State capital, said that three other centres located in Zaria, Jos and Lagos States had reached advanced stages of completion.

Pate added that 501 equipment and physical infrastructures had been completed in 61 federal tertiary hospitals within the last two years of the President Bola Tinubu-led administration.

The Minister made the disclosures at the commissioning of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) oncology centre, one of the three centres already completed.

Pate, who was accompanied on the commissioning by the Minister of Information, Malagi Mohammed Idris, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of Economy, Wale Edun and the deputy governor of Edo State, Mr. Dennis Idahosa.

The minister noted that with the commissioning of the centre, the nation’s health infrastructure landscape was being transformed.

In his remarks at the occasion, the Chief Managing Director of UBTH, Professor Darlington Obaseki, described the oncology centres in Nigeria as an indication of what could be achieved through visionary leadership.

He commended President Tinubu for the gesture, adding, “We treated 4,300 patients with cancer in 2024.

“This is despite for 10 years, the only colour radiation machine we had was down. This centre we are commissioning today will bring succour to the people in the South-South States,” the CMD stated.

On his part, the Minister of Information, Malagi Mohammed Idris, described the centre as a promise kept by President Bola Tinubu, adding that the same feat was being achieved in the education and other sectors of the nation.

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