AS the global community commemorates this year’s World Cancer Day, themed, ‘Close the Care Gap: Everyone Deserves Access to Cancer Care,’ on February 4, stakeholders are highlighting the inequalities in cancer care and taking action to tackle the deadly disease. This is the right step as the scourge spreads the more.

With an estimated 102,000 new cases of cancer annually reported in Nigeria – largely undiagnosed and their treatment unaffordable – the need for adequate measures to improve citizens’ access to quality care is paramount in the country.

First observed on February 4, 2000 at the World Summit Against Cancer for the New Millennium in Paris, France, the WCD aims “to promote awareness of cancer as a public health issue and to strengthen actions towards improving access to quality care, screening, early detection, treatment, and palliative care,” according to the World Health Organisation.

Alarmingly, cancer incidence and mortality rates are increasing across Africa. In 2020, estimated data from a study by the International Agency for Research on Cancer showed that there were 1.1 million new cases of cancer and 711,429 cancer-related deaths.

Research published in the Frontiers in Public Health journal, in 2022, indicated that Egypt was the leading country with new cases of cancer, followed by Nigeria and then South Africa.

The National Cancer Prevention and Control Plan (2018-2022) has revealed that cancer is responsible for 72,000 deaths in the country annually, with a reported 102,000 new cases each year.

In Nigeria, with a population of about 220 million people, complex diseases such as cancer are currently emerging as critical healthcare priorities in the present and for the future. Breast cancer accounted for the highest mortality rate, followed by prostate cancer. The WHO predicts that “the number of people being diagnosed will be about 50 per cent higher.” This is frightening.

As a large group of diseases, cancer can start in almost any organ or tissue of the body when abnormal cells grow uncontrollably, go beyond their usual boundaries to invade adjoining parts of the body and/or spread to other organs. The latter process is called metastasising and it is a major cause of death from cancer.

Cancer is the second leading cause of death globally, accounting for an estimated 9.6 million deaths. The cancer burden continues to grow globally, exerting tremendous physical, emotional and financial strain on individuals, families, communities and health systems. The NCCP has stated that Nigerians spend an estimated N12 billion on cancer treatment every year.

Over the years, experts have highlighted suspected risk factors for cancer. They include age, alcohol intake, chronic inflammation, diet, hormones, tobacco, immunosuppression, infectious agents, and exposure to carcinogens. Although some of these risk factors can be avoided, others such as growing older cannot.

Tragically, with the myriad of challenges that the health sector in Nigeria is confronting, cancer has been identified as a leading cause of death among women in the country, accounting for 28 per cent of all deaths among women, according to the National Cancer Registry. The most common cancers are breast cancer, cervical cancer, and liver cancer.

Several studies have shown that health systems in low- and middle-income countries are least prepared to manage the cancer burden, and large numbers of cancer patients globally do not have access to timely quality diagnosis and treatment. In countries where health systems are strong, survival rates of many types of cancers are improving thanks to accessible early detection, quality treatment and survivorship care. Nigeria is sorely lacking in this.

The country’s leaders need to devise strategies to tackle the brain drain in Nigeria’s health sector in order to close the cancer care gap. A report by the American Society of Clinical Oncology noted that Nigeria has only 80 clinical oncologists providing care for more than 120,000 patients. Worse, the country is losing its oncologists to high-income countries.

For a population of 220 million, Nigeria had only four medical doctors per 10,000 patients in 2021 and 15 nurses and midwives per 10,000 patients in 2019. The Nigerian government and stakeholders need to fully tackle the oncology workforce deficit.

There is a wide range of treatments available which include surgery, chemotherapy, hormone therapy, bone marrow/stem cell transplantation, radiation therapy, immunotherapy and vaccines, as well as personalised and targeted therapies.

The management of cancer worldwide is very expensive, but in some parts of the world, patients do not pay because they have health insurance schemes. The Nigerian governments should organise a health insurance scheme for the populace, so they would be able to access treatment for cancer more. This will make more health facilities available because there would be a pool of funds for this purpose.

There is a need for infrastructure, equipment, and comprehensive cancer centres. Nigeria only has three cancer treatment centres, but to factor in the country’s population and the number of cancer patients, it is clear that Nigeria needs at least one comprehensive cancer centre in each of the 36 states.

Stakeholders in the health sector with government support should provide adequate training that will produce specialists or teams to treat cancer. The need for funding in healthcare insurance cannot be overemphasised. Many cancer patients in Nigeria are suffering because they cannot afford standard care for their ailments. The Nigerian government ought to enhance compensation, make investments in graduate schools, and better working conditions that will curb the mass exodus of medical workers out of the country. Nigeria needs to close cancer care gaps

As the global community commemorates this year’s World Cancer Day, themed, ‘Close the Care Gap: Everyone Deserves Access to Cancer Care,’ on February 4, stakeholders are highlighting the inequalities in cancer care and taking action to tackle the deadly disease. This is the right step as the scourge spreads more.