A group of Nigerians led by Femi Williams, a Professor of Oncology, say it is in the process of establishing a non-profit cancer centre which will deal with both research, training and treatment.
At the first donor/stakeholders meeting held on Saturday at the home of Nigeria's foremost chattered accountant, Akintola Williams, Ilabere Avenue Ikoyi, Dr. Williams, who has practised and taught medicine for over four decades said he initiated the project because of the increasing prevalence of cancer in Nigeria.
“The first reason we are starting this is that the number of people living beyond 65 years old will significantly increase. It is only reasonable to anticipate that cancer will increase in the country and if you look at the papers you will see that cancer has increased and everybody is talking about cancer. The second reason is that Nigeria has a large percentage people living with HIV/AIDS and HIV/AIDS is associated with cancer. So in anticipation of a likely epidemic of HIV/AIDS survivors who develop cancer we should have a cancer centre to deal with this problem,” he said.
At the meeting, donations towards the centre were made by guests and members of the group, including, Riad Baloukji, Managing Director, Bel Papyrus Limited, Wale Ajisebutu, Managing Director, 21st Century Technologies, and Bode Emmanuel of Trevi Foundation.
Others who gave their support at the meeting include, Ernest Shonekan, former interim President of Nigeria, and Jim Ovia former Chief Executive Officer of Zenith Bank. The board members including Akintola Williams, Chris Ogunbanjo and JK Randle were also present.
According to the interim Chairman of the African Cancer Centre, Adekunle Olumide, the centre will be located on a 12-acre land, donated by the Lagos State Government, in Epe. It would be of international standard and have hotels for the relatives of patients to lodge.
“This is the first of its kind in Africa. It is going to be heavily dependent on foreign expertise, mostly Nigerians who are based in the U.S.
Mr. Olumide said it is not certain when the centre would become operational but construction will start soon. He also said that they have received pledges of support from international organisations who are waiting to see their commitment, so they are looking for individuals and organisations that will donate and partner with them in the project, which is estimated to cost N9.5 Billion to start.
Dr. Williams said the programmes of the centre would include vaccination programmes, community awareness and counselling.
“Treatment of cancer is a speciality. As we are speaking now the Nigerian postgraduate college does not recognise Oncology as a specialised subject. One of the things the cancer centre will do is to train board certified Oncologists and it will be able to influence the Nigerian Postgraduate College to set up a board specifically for Oncology. That is why there is scarcity of Oncologists in the country and general doctors are treating patients with cancer, which is not correct,” he said.
Dr. William said they plan to access fund from donors and government in order to treat people who can not afford the treatment, including children.
Health Workers Restore Services In Kaduna Hospitals
Medical and health workers in Kaduna recently restored full services in public hospitals following the suspension of their four-day strike.
The workers had embarked on the strike to press home their demand for the implementation of Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS) and Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS).
The workers also demanded an enhanced welfare package.
Newsday correspondent, who monitored public hospitals in Kaduna, reports that the workers complied with the directive from their umbrella body to resume work.
Many workers were sighted at their duty posts attending to out-patients and the few in-patients that could not discharge themselves during the industrial action.
Commenting on the development, the Acting Medical Director of Kawo General Hospital, Dr A'isha Abubakar, said all categories of staff had resumed work.
She expressed satisfaction with the conduct of the patients and the ad hoc staff who provided skeletal services during the strike.
Similarly, the Medical Director of Gwamna Awam Memorial Hospital, Kakuri, Dr Ahmed Abdulkadir, told NAN that management staff and and hoc personnel attended to patients during the strike.
On his part, the Medical Director of Rigasa General Hospital, Dr Sa'id Zakari, said the management staff were overwhelmed by the high turn-out of patients during the strike.
Zakari, however, commended the state government and other stakeholders for resolving the crisis in the interest of the people and the state.
A patient at the Barau Dikko Specialist Hospital in Kaduna, Mrs Kate Dominic, advised government and other stakeholders to always take proactive measures against such strikes.
`` Patients really suffered during the strike with some unwanted deaths,'' she added.
Also reacting to restoration of normal services, the acting State Commissioner for Health, Alhaji Mohammed Sani-Sidi, told NAN that government had resolved to continue providing improved health care services.
He commended the Medical and Health Workers Forum, JNI, CAN, traditional rulers and other stakeholders for their intervention to end the industrial action.
The leader of the Forum, Dr Williams Ayet, said the suspension of the strike followed an agreement reached on Wednesday with the state government over their demands.
Ayet said the Forum also respected the intervention of religious leaders through the JNI and CAN, traditional rulers and other stakeholders.
He expressed optimism that their demands would be met by government because of the integrity of those who intervened in the crisis.
On his part, the state's Head of Service, Yakubu Balarabe, told Newsday that the medical and health workers would start enjoying CONMESS and CONHESS by March.
Balarabe, who is also the Chairman of the Health Workers Strike Management Team set up by Gov. Namadi Sambo to resolve the crisis, commended the workers for their understanding and advised them to uphold their professional ethics.
