The Federal Government is set to approve eight more hospitals to the previous lineup of 12 hospitals in its Cancer Access Partnership Programme. Speaking on Wednesday during the official launch of the 2021 Upgrade Oncology, a representative of the Federal Ministry of Health, Dr. Uche Nwokwu, said the programme is aimed at subsidising cancer treatment for patients
Cancer Access Partnership Programme is an initiative designed to train oncologists, pharmacists, and nurses in Nigeria to address the shortage of personnel in cancer treatment in the health sector.
Dr. Nwokwu said, “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 said 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.
He added that the government’s Cancer Management Fund is taking new steps 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.
Meanwhile, the Executive Director, Project Pink Blue, Mr. Runcie Chidebe has urged the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency on the healthcare workforce shortage in Nigeria.
Chidebe lamented that not only are Nigerians underserved in terms of the country’s dismal doctor-to-patient ratio but there are not enough cancer centres to cater for the rising numbers of cancer patients in the country.
Citing available data, he said, “By 2030, Nigeria will have a shortage of 50,120 doctors and 137,859 nurses, translating to 33.45 percent and 29.25 percent gap in doctors’ and nurses’ supply.
“For a population of 201 million, Nigeria has less than 90 clinical oncologists who provide cancer treatment to over 100,000 cancer patients across the cancer centres.
“In our calculation, it means that there is only one cancer doctor to over 1,100 cancer patients in Nigeria.
“On this premise, we are launching Upgrade Oncology to support the government’s efforts in cancer control and we also urge the government to declare a state of emergency on the shortage of healthcare workforce in Nigeria.”
source: HealthWise
