Ibadan – Prominent medical experts in the country have stressed the need for Nigerian women to embrace cervical cancer screening as preventive measure to reduce the prevalent deaths caused by the disease.
They made the call in Ibadan on Friday at a medical symposium and workshop on “Cancer, Control and Awareness” organised by Access to Basic Medical Care Foundation (ABC Foundation).
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that ABC Foundation, a non-profit and non-governmental organisation, was founded in 2013 by Mrs Florence Ajimobi, wife of the Oyo State Governor.
The Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, who spoke on “The Role of HPV Testing in Cervical Cancer Screening in Nigeria”, said that cervical cancer was sexually transmitted.
He said that the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommended that resource-poor nations should screen all women at least once in a lifetime.
He added that “as at today, there is only one cervical cancer centre partially working in the country and the nation needs at least 150 radiotherapy machines.
“However, we have contacted manufacturers of the machine and will be available soon. We would also ensure that screening for cervical cancer is available at Primary Health Care centres.”
Adewole pledged to partner the state government in their health programmes aimed at rendering quality healthcare services to the people.
Emeritus Prof. Olu Akinkungbe, who was the Chairman of the occasion, said that the salvation of the nation was in the health sector, especially preventive medicine.
Akinkungbe, a professor of medicine, said it was distressing to record high mortality in cancer, where prevention could have played a huge role in forestalling such.
He commended the foundation for its effort at promoting preventive health care initiative, adding that the organisation had recorded tremendous feats since its establishment.
Prof. Oluwarotimi Akinola, the Chairman, Society of Gynaecologists and Obstetricians, Lagos State chapter, said that cervical cancer was the fourth most common cancer worldwide.
He said the Oxford declaration of March 2009 stated that “a woman in Africa dies of cancer every minute; cervical cancer is the commonest genital cancer in Nigeria.
“It is a disease that can be arrested if identified at any stage.”
Akinola hinged the prevalent deaths on ignorance, poverty, socio-cultural aversion to modern medical values and beliefs leading to affinity for tradition and spiritual intervention as solution
According to him, the cases of cervical cancer in Nigeria are very sad and stressed the need to recognise cervical cancer as a major reproductive health challenge.
“Cervical cancer screening and treatment should either be free or heavily subsidised. We must adopt a complete paradigm shift to screening that recognises the limitations of cytology based approach,” he stated.
Gov. Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State said that the challenges must be frontally resolved, if truly the nation would attain greater reduction of deaths caused by the disease.
He called on well-meaning Nigerians to emulate the example of ABC Foundation in changing their environment for good.
Ajimobi reiterated his administration’s determination to give quality healthcare services to the citizenry through partnership.
He said “we will intensify efforts at improving the health status of our people through adequate education, information and awareness.
“We call on developmental partners to partner the state government in providing quality healthcare services to the underserved communities and demography.”
He commended the Federal Government for cascading healthcare services to the grassroots.
Mrs Bolanle Ambode, wife of the Lagos State Governor, appealed to Nigerians not to stigmatise persons living with cancer, saying it was a health challenge that could be managed.
She urged persons living with the challenge to follow medical advice very strictly, including regular use of prescribed medication.
Ambode, who commended the founder of ABC Foundation for the initiative, stressed the need for well-meaning Nigerians to emulate such initiative.
In her address, Florence Ajimobi said that the organisation took into cognisance experiences in the last three years, saying such required urgent intervention against the scourge of cancer.
She said that anniversary activities had begun with sensitisation rally, which included free HPV testing among a host of other activities all geared toward kicking out cancer.
“To date, we have offered free cervical cancer screening to more than 5,000 women, while more than 3,000 others have accessed highly subsidised cancer programmes.
The wife of the governor said that the Foundation’s target was to ensure more women understood that they have to take charge of their health and take preventive action by undergoing requisite measures.
She expressed the hope that the efforts of the Foundation would create greater awareness about cervical cancer and educate people on the importance of screening , especially HPV test.
She added that “we believe it will sensitise the medical community into taking more proactive steps to ensure cervical cancer is controlled.
“We will continue to be at the forefront of this fight with future plans of moving from opportunistic screening to population based screening with HPV testing as screening modality.
“We have deployed the latest technology in testing and provided care and we intend to move with the current trend in technological development to make sure that we provide the best in terms of service.”
She then solicited the support of well-meaning like-minded individuals, religious bodies, corporate organisations and others, to partner with the the Foundation in taking the programme further.
