FG To Set Up 8 Additional Hospitals For Cancer Treatment

Federal Government of Nigeria is set to approve eight more hospitals for cancer treatment.

Gatekeepers News reports that when approved, it will be a boost to the previous authorised 12 hospitals in its Cancer Access Partnership Programme, an initiative designed to train oncologists, pharmacists, and nurses in Nigeria to address the shortage of personnel in cancer treatment in the health sector.

A representative of the Federal Ministry of Health, Dr. Uche Nwokwu who spoke on Wednesday during the official launch of the 2021 Upgrade Oncology, noted that the programme is aimed at subsidising cancer treatment for patients.

“The government has partnered with others to establish what we call the Cancer Access Partnership Programme.

“The programme is meant to reduce cancer medication by 50 percent of the original cost. For instance, if a drug costs N1,000 in the open market, this programme will reduce it to N500.

“It is already operational in 12 hospitals and the Ministry of Health has directed that we should expand it to eight more hospitals to make them 20 hospitals.

“So, in the next one or two months, we’ll be able to have these drugs in at least 20 hospitals across the country. These drugs involve virtually every kind of medicine used in cancer treatment from conventional chemotherapy to targeted therapy,” Nwokwu stated.

According to Nwokwu, some of the hospitals under the scheme are; the National Hospital, Abuja; Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria; Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano; Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital, Ile-Ife; University College Hospital, Ibadan; Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Lagos; the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu.

Gatekeepers News reports that he added that the government’s Cancer Management Fund is making moves to ease cancer treatment for millions of Nigerians.

“The government has devoted huge sums of money to ensure that those who cannot afford cancer treatment get some support through the Cancer Health Management Fund.

“The Minister of Health has approved a date for that launching. I won’t say it now until Mr. President concurs with the date. But it’s going to happen not more than two weeks from now.

“So, poor indigent patients will have access to the comprehensive treatment covering chemotherapy surgery and radiotherapy. We’re going to pilot it across six hospitals across the country. And as the fund expands, more hospitals will be added.

“These are the initiatives of the government to ensure that our citizens have access to quality and as much as possible cheaper cancer medication,” he said