Professor Kuranga, who made this submission while delivering the 180th Inaugural Lecture of the university, described prostate cancer as an “epidemic in waiting”.
In the lecture, entitled “The Experience of a Urological Surgeon in a Tertiary Institution in Sub-Saharan Africa”, the don pointed out that the disease is one of the leading causes of death among males worldwide, saying that it can be cured with early detection and prompt access to good medical facilities.
Professor Kuranga identified ageing, family history, race, obesity, sexually transmissible diseases, cigarette smoking, vasectomy, benign prostatic hyperplasia, among others, as some risk factors for prostate cancer, adding that “early detection of prostate cancer is the ultimate of any urologist so that the scourge and the menace of this disease can be reduced to the barest minimum.”
The urologist pointed out that “government at all levels should organise and conduct a programme to promote awareness and early detection of prostate cancer as a matter of policy.”
“This programme”, according to Professor Kuranga, “may include but not limited to the dissemination of information regarding the symptoms and signs of prostate cancer, the risk factors associated with it, the benefit of early detection, the treatment and consequences of delay in treatment.”
He explained that due to the nature of the health financing system in the country, it is difficult for most patients to fund the treatment required for prostate cancer.
According to him, “prostate cancer is a potentially curable disease; hence, being diagnosed with it is not a death sentence.”
He, however, noted that most patients present themselves late, thereby making palliative option the only treatment for the physician.
Prof. Kuranga, who also debunked myths associated with the prostate cancer disease, however, pointed out that the ailment is more aggressive among black Africans who are more likely to be affected and die from prostate cancer than other men.
The expert identified some challenges to the management of prostate cancer in Nigeria to include inaccuracy of current staging methods due to lack of relevant equipment and tools for the diagnosis of the disease, lack of a culture of effective screening, inadequate manpower among others.
The don enjoined men to eat healthily and minimise the consumption of saturated fat and red meat. “Men’s diet should be rich in lycopene (tomato) and other nutrients such as carrots and fresh vegetables, which are in abundance in Nigeria. It is also advisable to consume foods that are rich in Omega–3 fatty acid derivable from fish”, he advised.
Putting forward his recommendations, the scholar charged the National Medical Laboratory Sciences Council to “ensure and monitor the performance of PSA tests both at the public – State and Federal – and private laboratory facilities to ensure authentic and reliable results.”
While advocating the establishment and promotion of referral services and screening programmes to facilitate early reporting and treatment options, Prof. Kuranga enjoined the University of Ilorin, through the University Research Grant Fund, to conduct screening projects in our host communities as part of its community service mandate.
“There should be an Act on prostate cancer; the Prostate Cancer Research and Prevention Act. The prostate cancer research and prevention institutes should be domiciled in tertiary institutions and funded by TETFUND”, he canvassed, while urging the Nigerian President to “make a proclamation on National Prostate Cancer awareness in the year 2018’ similar to that of the 1971 Cancer Act of the USA”.
and then