The Federal Ministry of Health says it will soon unveil a five-year National Strategic Plan for Control of Cervical Cancer in Nigeria.
Dr Ramatu Hassan, the National Coordinator, National Cancer Control Programme (NCCP), said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Abuja.
Hassan said the ministry was working with the World Health Organisation (WHO) with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to train personnel who would implement the strategic plan.
The national coordinator said the strategic plan to be inaugurated in February 2017 was expected to significantly slash the burden of cervical cancer in the country.
She explained that as the world marked World Cancer Day on Feb. 4, governments should focus on detection, prevention and treatment of the ailment.
She said that the theme of the 2017 World Cancer Day as adopted by the International Union of Cancer Control which Nigeria is a member is “we can, I can’’.
“It means that as individuals, we should be able to determine issues that contribute to the control of cancer in the country.”
She said the Federal Ministry of Health had adopted a sub theme — “make a healthy lifestyle choice” to mark the day.
According to her, the sub theme cautions Nigerians to stay away from tobacco, excessive consumption of alcohol and embrace regular exercise and other healthy habits.
Hassan said the NCCP had trained cancer registry staff in various hospitals in the six geopolitical zones of the country.
She added that cancer registry, though poorly understood by public, would enable government to ascertain the prevalence of each type of cancer in a given area for effective control.
She explained that the data and information generated by trained cancer registry would enable government to establish treatment centres in locations where a particular type of cancer was prevalent.
“The data will also assist government to offer training for specific types of cancer because it will guide government to know where to locate such training,” she said.
She said government would concentrate on strengthening the cancer registry to efficiently capture the personnel training for doctors, nurses and other specialties.
According to her, available data with the department indicates that breast cancer, cervical cancer, prostates cancer, colorectal and liver cancer are the common types of cancer in Nigeria.
She assured that most of these cancers were preventable with adoption of healthy lifestyle, adding that some of the major cancers were linked to cigarette smoking.
Obesity, she added, were sometimes linked to breast cancer and alcohol consumption was associated with liver cancer.
“These are things we can do away with and stay healthy; fruits and vegetables are good for us and can help to prevent colorectal cancer,” the national coordinator said.
Cancer is a leading cause of death around the world, according to WHO, which stresses the need to work on effective control measures.
The World Cancer Day is part of the World Cancer Campaign, which responds to the Charter of Paris adopted at the World Summit Against Cancer for the New Millennium on Feb. 4, 2000.
It called for strong alliance between researchers, healthcare professionals, patients, governments, industry partners and the media to fight cancer.
The Charter of Paris designated Feb. 4 each year as World Cancer Day.
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