Nigeria First Lady, Dr. Aisha Muhammadu Buhari has identified poor awareness as a major factor for the high rate of mortality from cancer in Nigeria.
Dr Buhari Tuesday made the statement at the State House while receiving members of the Nigerian Cancer Society.
In a statement signed by her Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, the First Lady said owing to the main factor, accounted for why the Future Assured Programme has remained active in creating awareness, holding screening sessions, and making referrals where necessary.
She reminded the team that World Cancer Day, which will soon hold on the 4th February 2022, would provide a veritable platform to accelerate the fight against cancer, calling on the stakeholders to collaborate and intensify efforts in ensuring the proper implementation of the National Cancer Control Plan to reduce the death rate in Nigeria.
Earlier, the President of the Nigerian Cancer Society, Prof. Adamu Alhassan Umar reported that cancers have emerged as a leading health problem in Nigeria, lamenting the challenges to effective cancer control as daunting, but promising. He therefore called on the First Lady to lend her weight to cancer control and assume personal leadership of the national campaign for cancer control.
In attendance at the session were the President of OCI Foundation, Australia, who informed the First Lady that his Foundation was in Nigeria to commission a campaign tagged Arm Our Youth, (ArOY) and requested the First Lady to support the campaign to arm young people with the right information to prevent cancer.
A coalition of cancer survivors, the Network of People Impacted by Cancer in Nigeria (NEPICIN) was also at the event.
The champion of the coalition, Gloria Orji, a Cancer survivor lamented that cancer patients are stigmatized and yearn for better and affordable cancer care, saying that their organization was willing to support any cause that will better the lot of cancer patients in Nigeria.