It is a general knowledge that Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the world. According to statistics, cancer caused about 10 million deaths worldwide as of 2020. The number of people affected by cancer keeps on increasing day by day and science is yet to find a permanent cure to cancer at all stages.
There are 4 stages of Cancer, Stage 1-Localized, Stage 2- Early Locally Advanced, Stage 3- Late Locally Advanced, Stage 4- Metastasized. The best time for cancer to be diagnosed and treated is at the first stage as it is easy to contain and prevented from spreading. However, Nigerians just as they are negligent to most health conditions give the same approach to the symptoms of cancer no matter how vivid it might be and will only go for a check up when they are in extreme pain or when personal treatment fails.
This type of approach is however very dangerous as it often leads to death most especially when the cancer has gotten to stage 4. Two medical experts at the diagnosis and management of cancer at the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority and Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi-Araba, Cancer Centre, The Director,Dr. Lilian Ekpo and the Chief Clinical Director, Dr. Habeebu Muhammad warned Nigerians against seeing cancer as a death sentence and encouraged people to come in for regular checkup in order for the disease to be diagnosed at an early stage as this will reduce the risk of death and will also reduce the amount of money that will be spent on treatment.
In her words, Dr Lilian Ekpo said “People need to know about cancer, know the early signs, present early, and do screening so that we can save lives.
“The challenge we have is that patients present late. They present late because first, they are not aware of the signs and symptoms.
“The bleeding from the vagina or weight loss and all the other symptoms associated with cancer are ignored and people don’t present on time.
“Once you present late, the likelihood that the oncologists and the team of cancer care specialists will be able to achieve a cure is lower. So that is the challenge in Nigeria.
“The top four cancers that we are dealing with are breast cancer, prostate cancer, cervical cancer, and colon cancer.”
She further said “The greatest misconception is that cancer is a death sentence or the moment you get a diagnosis of cancer, you’re going to die.
“The perception of cancer in Nigeria, I think is slowly increasing and I emphasized the word slowly and that’s because a lot of people out there still see cancer as a death sentence.
“And that’s one of the core things that we’re trying to do at the center through our constant awareness on different platforms – the media and social media handles – trying to educate the public that cancer is not a death sentence, knowing that options are available.
“Early detection is crucial as it helps save lives. So, the message is slowly getting out there. You have to keep educating the people.”
Speaking about the services provided by them in the health center and the challenges faced by cancer patients in Nigeria She said “ In this centre, we also see a lot of head and neck cancers. I must confess that we do have very good outcomes in treating head and neck cancers.
“Currently, NLCC has deployed state-of-the-art treatments and equipment in the management of cancer. We have the kind of technologies that you will see in cancer centers in developed countries and the benefits of having those technologies in place and having clinicians, medical physicists, and radiotherapists who are skilled in the deployment of these technologies.”
“The greatest challenge cancer patients experience is finance. Healthcare everywhere in the world is expensive. In developed countries where you have a very strong healthcare insurance system, the significant care in any service that is rendered to the patient is the government. In Nigeria, the government is trying, especially with cancer care, as they’re making some significant investments.”
“My advice to the public is be informed, be educated. A lot of people are waiting on a doctor, waiting on an informed healthcare person to tell them what to do about their health. You know your body, don’t ever ignore symptoms.”
Also speaking on this situation, The Chief Clinical Director, Dr. Habeebu Muhammad, said, “We also need to close the gap in the infrastructure and empower the health system.
“We need to also put cancer treatment in insurance so that it will be available for the low and the middle-income people.”
“We also primarily raise awareness because the emphasis is on awareness. Awareness is important because when we are aware there is cancer and we go out to screen and screening which is the only way you can detect cancer early, then you can detect it early, and then we will be able to have a successful treatment.”