Experts urge FG to implement cancer institute act

The Executive Director of Project Pink Blue, an NGO, Runcie Chidebe, has called on the federal government to implement the National Institute for Cancer Research and Treatment Act.

Mr Chidebe made the call in Abuja during an awareness walk organised by the organisation in collaboration with Transcorp Hilton Hotel and other partners to commemorate this year’s World Cancer Day.

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He said the National Assembly passed the National Institute for Cancer Research and Treatment Bill into law and President Muhammadu Buhari assented to it in December, 2017, adding that till date the act had neither been gazetted nor implemented.

He said, “The National Institute for Cancer Research and Treatment Act will help to coordinate funding, prevention and to ensure that people get access to cancer treatment.”

He further said 124,000 Nigerians were diagnosed with cancer every year out of which 72,000 of them died of various forms of cancer.

While calling on the private sector and individuals to invest in cancer control, he said cancer patients in the country still faced challenges accessing care.

According to him, about 60 per cent of Nigerians have to travel for four hours to access cancer care.

He enjoined Nigerians to imbibe a healthy lifestyle and also go for prostate cancer screening, cervical cancer screening, breast examination and Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccination, among others, to protect themselves from the disease.

A cancer survivor, Ochai Igba Friday, called on the federal government to support cancer patients with funds for treatment, saying many of them died as a result of lack of finance to fund care.

He also called for the establishment of specialist cancer treatment hospitals to improve access to care in the country.