Medicaid Foundation to hold summit on cancer data, survival

Stakeholders in the health sector and policy makers will soon meet on ways to improve the quality of cancer data generated in the country.
They will be meeting during a four day summit organised by the Medicaid Cancer Foundation in Abuja next week.

Briefing newsmen about the summit, Founder of the Medicaid Cancer Foundation and Wife of Kebbi State governor, Dr Zainab-Shinkafi Bagudu, said it was also aimed at gathering relevant experts to stimulate stakeholders on the need to focus on ways to improve the survivor of cancer patients in Nigeria .

She said the summit would incorporate a capacity building workshop for old and new cancer registries.
Dr Bagudu said the foundation works in partnership with other governors wives interested in cancer care and advocacy, and that they have been able to simulate the development of cancer registration facilities in Kebbi State and other parts of the country.

“ We were able to train staff on cancer data in Kebbi State and also set up two cancer registries. Oyo state recently launched a cancer control plan and strengthened their existing registries as a result of the networking that we do. We also work with Dr Florence Ajimobi and other five governors wives in this cancer advocacy.They are Niger, Kwara, Ondo, Ogun and Cross Rivers,” she said ‘

She said the aim of the summit is not about creating awareness like most of its other programmes but a fora for academics, high level policy makers , stakeholders, advocates, and influencers , to discuss and chat ways forward on cancer registration.

She added that the organizers hope to bring the issue of cancer registries to the attention of policy makers through the summit and to achieve some support for registries and fill the gaps where they are non-existent.

Immediate past national coordinator of the cancer control programme of the Federal Ministry of Health, and a consultant to the foundation, Dr Ramatu Hassan , said cancer registration is important because it enables the country generate data to understand the types of cancer in an area, age range of those affected, the type for facility to situate there and type of health personnel to train there, among others.

She said this would ultimately enable the country to plan and provide quality cancer services . She said the one of the cancer registries set up in Kebbi State is population based while the second is hospital based.

Consultant radiologist and head of Medicaid Diagnostics centre , Dr Hyelakumi Ibrahim said the fight against cancer will be difficult without quality data, adding that data was key for planning on cancer control.

National coordinator of the Medicaid Cancer Foundation, Dr Suraiya Mansur said the foundation creates awareness, provides training on cancer and has supported the treatment of over 600 cancer patients since inception.