A policy to support Nigerians battling cancer is being sketched by the ministry of health.
Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, announced the effort at a virtual stakeholders forum on the elimination of cervical cancer.
He said approval has been given to the development of National Palliative Care Policy (NPCP) in order to address the palliative care need of cancer patients in the country.
The National Cancer Control Programme (NCCP), organised the parley in collaboration with the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s International Vaccine Access Centre and Direct Consulting and Logistics.
Ehanire said: “With late presentation and diagnosis of cancer cases, many of these patients may need palliative care; palliative care is a holistic care and an approach to care given to persons with life limiting disease.
“It focuses on pain and symptom control for patients and family support throughout the course of illness until death and even in their bereavement,’’ he said.
He said the Federal Government has upgraded hospitals through budgetary allocation as well as public private partnership (PPP) arrangement to provide equipment.
He said Mammography machines, Colposcopes, MRIs, linear Accelerators and other radiotherapy equipment for the provision of specialised treatment of cancers including cancer of the cervix, have been installed in many hospitals.
“The Federal Ministry of Health is in a partnership programme with the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), and the American Cancer Society (ACS), to provide quality cancer chemotherapy at over 50 per cent cost reduction.
“The ministry is scaling up prevention in the three states through a UNITAID- funded Programme. This Programme should have commenced in May this year but for the COVID-19 outbreak.
“I am aware that various partners are implementing the United States Center for Disease Control (US/CDC)-funded HIV integrated cervical cancer screening. This is also commendable.
“Furthermore, majority of our tertiary hospitals currently have the capacity to perform PAP smear, colposcopy, biopsy and histopathology services essential for diagnosis of cervical cancer.
“Electrosurgical excision procedures such as Loop electrosurgical excision procedure/Large loop excision of transformation zone (LEEP/LLETZ) and cold coagulation are also available in some of our centres.
“This stakeholder forum is a product of such partnership. The Johns Hopkins International Vaccine Access Centre (IVAC), is facilitating this forum to enable us to review the National Strategic Plan for the prevention of cancer of the cervix in Nigeria.
“HPV is responsible for over 70 per cent of cervical cancer and the desire is to increase screening campaigns hitherto conducted at the tertiary hospitals, through some individuals and non-governmental organisations and partners.
“The federal ministry of health conducted a pilot immunisation against HPV in 2011 which was one of the requirements for its integration into the national programme on immunisation.
“The National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), has assured me that HPV immunisation will be introduced on a national scale in 2021.
“As a government, we appreciate those of you who have been very active in the area of secondary prevention.
I must, therefore, specially appreciate all our partners in this forum that are working tirelessly to increase screening and treatment of precancerous lesions across the country,’’ he said.