Mass Medical Mission, a non-profit organization under its National Cancer Prevention Programme (NCPP), has launched a free family health outreach programme for cancer screening and treatment.
The health programme which would cover the whole country was kick-started in Lagos on Sunday to commemorate the World Cancer Day.
Already, the screening would be conducted nationwide under the old geographical divisions covering the Northern, Western, Eastern and Mid-West regions with four mobile clinics established for the purpose.
One of the facilitators for the medical mission, Dr. Abia Nzelu told Daily Trust yesterday that the cancer prevention programme was established to tackle “unnecessary deaths” from cancer.
Nzelu who is the Executive Secretary of Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy, disclosed that many Nigerians have died of cancer due to absence of infrastructure for screening and early detection.
She said 100 people die of cancer in Nigeria every hour, adding that out of every five cancer patients, only one has the chance of survival.
According to her, the four fully equipped mobile trucks supported by many philanthropists in the country including Mr. Jim Ovia, Mrs. Folorunsho Alakija, among others, would improve access to cancer screening.
She said, “People don’t need to die the way they are dying and we believe these mobile clinics will help a lot. It is not just screening but we treat people on the spot”.
She said the whole of Lagos has been mapped out for the pilot programme which would go from wards to wards and local governments in the state.
The screening focuses on prostate cancer, cervical cancer, colon cancer, ovarian cancer, as well as Diabetes, Blood Pressure, eye screening, among others.
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