Senate moves to establish centre for cancer treatment
PRESS STATEMENT
Senate Moves To Establish Centre For Cancer Treatment
The Senate on Wednesday, May 11, 2022
debated and passed for Second Reading a Bill seeking to establish the National
Centre for Cancer Treatment. It was sponsored by Sen. Oseni Yakubu (Kogi
Central).
Leading the debate on the general
principles of the Bill, Sen. Yakubu noted that cancer has become a global
disease that accounts for one out of eight women expected to be either
diagnosed with breast and/or cervical cancer in their lifetime; and two out of
ten men expected to be diagnosed with prostate, lungs and/or colorectal cancer.
It is also well known that the
various forms of cancer diseases have been more severe in Africa in general and
Nigeria in particular- where resources and awareness are not readily available
for prevention, diagnosis and treatment”, he said.
Sen. Yakubu added that statistics by
the World Health Organisation (WHO) show that cancer is a major terminal
ailment responsible for 7.8m deaths or 13 percent of all deaths worldwide, with
72 percent of such deaths occurring in middle income nations such as Nigeria.
He decried the absence of data on the
ailment in Nigeria to determine the correct number of persons affected, in
order to ensure effective treatment. He disclosed that Nigeria is lagging
behind when compared to its peers.
The lawmaker explained that the
National Centre for Cancer Treatment Bill 2022, when passed and eventually
signed into law, would provide a holistic national strategy for dealing with
cancer ailment as a serious national agenda.
He added that the Bill would also
harness the required trained medical manpower in achieving an accessible,
radical curative surgery, operations radiation, chemotherapy and the hormone
therapy, all necessary for early detection and management of cancer
conditions.
The Bill, which was overwhelmingly
supported by lawmakers, was referred to the Committee on Health (Secondary and
Tertiary) having scaled through Second Reading. The Committee has four weeks to
report back to the chamber in plenary.
Signed:
Dr. Ezrel Tabiowo, FAI, FIMC, CMC,
FCP, Fsca
Special Assistant (Press)
To President of the Senate
Wednesday, May 11, 2022.