The Chairman, Lancet Oncology Commission for Sub-Saharan Africa, Prof. Wil Ngwa, has said that there will be one million deaths per year by 2030 in Africa due to cancer.
Speaking at the public presentation of the report titled: “Lancet Oncology Commission: Cancer in Sub-Saharan Africa” on Wednesday in Abuja, Ngwa said that the continent should address cancer with equal urgency, as it did with COVID-19.
The Lancet Oncology Commission disclosed that Nigeria lost about 5.9 billion dollars to cancer deaths and other cancer-related factors in 2019.
According to him, cancer is greatly impacting economies in the region with Algeria losing 2.6 billion dollars, Angola 1.2 billion dollars, Benin 209.2 million dollars, Botswana 500.6 million dollars and Burkina Faso
270.6 million dollars to the disease.
Ngwa disclosed that cancer killed more people than COVID-19 in 2021 in Africa and caused the death of more than 28,000 children in the region in 2020.
He also said that the challenge of cancer now faced by Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) was enormous and likely to worsen rapidly if adequate measures were not taken, including international collaboration.
Ngwa, however, said that cancer in Africa was characterised by late stage at presentation, delayed diagnosis, limited access to treatment and poor outcomes relative to other geographic regions
In his remarks the former Nigeria’s Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, said that there were various interventions by the Nigerian Government to reduce the burden of the disease in the country.
He, however, said that what was most important was political action and not just political will.
“The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) provides health insurance to all Nigerians and cancer screening is one of the key deliverables in that document.
“So, Nigeria is likely to become one of the first countries in Africa to have cancer screening covered by health insurance.
“What we now need to do moving forward is to go on with the idea of revitalising the eight cancer centres in Nigeria,” he said.
He added that the Cancer Health Fund was a unique innovation where people with cancer were now supported financially.
GIK/APA