The wife of Nigeria’s vice president, Mrs Dolapo Osinbajo has described the increasing rate of deaths to cancer as alarming and disturbing.
Nigeria is said to record about ten thousand deaths annually from cancer, as the country lacks the resources for cancer treatment and care.
In reaction to this trend, Mrs Osinabajo said it is disturbing and she is advocating the establishment of cancer treatment centers across the country to reduce the number of cancer-related deaths in Nigeria.
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Mrs Osinbajo made this appeal in Abuja, where she commissioned a cancer treatment center at the national hospital.
Also at the event, the Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole also decried the huge number of cancer-related deaths.
“For us in Nigeria, we lose about 10,000 people every year to cancer. This will increase if we do nothing. This is apart from the suffering and the agony that many of these individuals go through. This is a major challenge,” he said.
He added that it is also worrisome that many African countries do not have the resources to treat cancer patients, explaining that only about 17% of the countries in Africa have resources for cancer care.
